


This Is My Kingdom Come

by catrasredemption (dimensionhoppingrose)



Series: Magicatra AU [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora is misguided not evil, Alternate Universe - Catra is She-Ra, Angst, Cameos from others obviously, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Catra swears like a lot, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, Fluff, Force Captain Adora, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Magicatra AU, So much best friend squad, Typical Shadow Weaver things, canon compliant slow burn, it's complicated - Freeform, it's complicated she doesn't really accept it, sometimes, sorta - Freeform, ya know the princesses and what not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 83,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25321057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/catrasredemption
Summary: Catra is not, and never will be, a hero. She doesn't care if she found a weird magical sword in the woods, or what any stories say.Unfortunately, other people do care. Like her best friend who thinks she's been brainwashed by the enemy. And the sorceress who wants her back just to use her for whatever power she has.And the entire world that wants her to step up and save them all.Catra never asked for a destiny, but that doesn't stop the universe from throwing one at her anyway.-Season One Complete--Season Two Complete-(Season Three coming December 5)
Relationships: Adora & Scorpia (She-Ra), Adora & Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Angella & Catra (She-Ra), Bow & Catra & Glimmer (She-ra), Bow & Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra)
Series: Magicatra AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954912
Comments: 423
Kudos: 908





	1. The Sword

**Author's Note:**

> Yes another Catra is She-Ra AU that no one needs. It started a couple weeks ago as an experiment, and now I have all of season one written. If this goes well, I'll go into season two. We'll see what happens.
> 
> There are a *lot* of different elements tossed into this, not just a straight-up rewrite so if things seem weird or off... they are, that's what I was aiming for, so yay.
> 
> And... please review if you enjoy this and let me know? This is something I've been working on a *lot* (like staying up writing until 4am a lot), and feedback would just be awesome, ya know? Honestly I'm really nervous about posting this at all, but.... here we go, I guess!

Adora is never going to let her live this down.

“Glimmer, I think we’re lost.”

“We’re not _lost_! I know where we’re going.”

“That’s the third time we’ve passed that tree!”

Catra sighs, raising an eyebrow at her kind-of captors. “You guys suck at this. You know that right?”

“Shut up, horde scum,” Sparkles says heatedly. She’s touchy, Catra notes. “Besides, we caught you, didn’t we?”

Catra bristles at that, hissing through her teeth. Adora is _never_ going to let her live this down.

_“Catra, this is stupid,” Adora insists as they walk down the hall. “Why do you want to go_ back _there?”_

_“I just… need to see something, okay? When you crashed the skiff I thought—”_

_“Okay, first off,_ I _did not crash the skiff. Second, you hit your head. You probably have a concussion.”_

_Catra sighs, closing her eyes and counting to ten. Adora is her best friend, but she can be_ really _frustrating sometimes. “I don’t have a concussion, Adora. Why are you being so uptight? Is that badge going to your head already?”_

_“Of course not! I’m just worried about you. You’ve been upset all day and now you’re chasing hallucinations—”_

_“I’m not upset.” That might be a lie. Catra doesn’t care. “I’ll be back before drills, okay? And if I’m not, who cares? Shadow Weaver might even be happy if she thinks I ran away.”_

_“She wouldn’t be_ happy _about you running away.”_

_“She wouldn’t care, is the point.” Catra stops, turning on her heel and resting her hands on Adora’s shoulders. “Seriously, go back to bed. I’ll be back before drills. And I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to always have my back.”_

_“That’s my_ job _,” Adora insists. Catra sighs inwardly. Adora’s greatest and worst qualities are that she’s unwaveringly loyal. Her strength and weakness in one._

_“I know. And you’re an idiot.” Adora rolls her eyes, playfully shoving Catra away. “I’ll be back before drills. I_ promise _. Go back to bed.”_

_Adora chews on her lips for a moment, gears turning in her head. “Fine,” she finally says. “But if you’re butt isn’t first in line in the morning, I’m coming out and dragging you home myself. Got it?”_

_Catra salutes. “Yes ma’am, Force Captain Adora.”_

She is _never_ going to live this down. Adora is going to come and rescue her like the stupid hero she thinks she is, and Catra is going to be the idiot who got captured by a sparkly _princess_.

Catra’s head snaps around, catching the boy looking at her with wide eyes. “What?” she asks impatiently.

“Can I… pet your ears?”

“ _Bow_!” Sparkles bursts out, resting her face in her hand. “You are not _petting_ the prisoner!”

Arrow Boy gives Catra a pleading look. She hisses in return. “Quiet, prisoner,” Sparkles says, tugging the rope they tied around her arms.

“Sparkles, are you compensating for something?” Catra teases. The princess, predictably, blushes. She’s so easy to wind up. It’s kind of fun.

“Wha — no — shut up!”

“Not much of a people person, are you?” Arrow Boy asks, raising an eyebrow. Catra stares right back.

“You’re holding me _hostage_. What do you want, pleasantries?”

The boy looks back at his tracker pad. Catra sighs, wiggling her hand slightly. She just needs to get a cut started and she can break out easy. These two are idiots. Are they _really_ the rebellion?

_“Do you think it’s_ really _overflowing with princesses like everyone says?” Catra asks as she peeks through the trees._

_“Probably.” Adora is on edge, her hand ready to pull the staff Catra knows she keeps in her jacket._

_“Cool. Let’s go!”_

_Catra darts into the Whispering Woods without another word. “Catra!” Adora hisses after her, stumbling over a few roots as she tries to keep up with her naturally agile friend. “Catra, come on! This is stupid!”_

_“No, it’s_ fun _!” Catra calls back, laughing and jumping to a tree branch. “You used to know how to have that!”_

_“Hey,_ who _stole the skiff again?”_

_“And then who crashed it?”_

_“You did!”_

_“Mmmmm, I dunno, I remember differ—” Catra lands on another branch, and it snaps. She yelps as she tumbles to the ground, feeling like she takes a lot longer to land considering how tall the tree is._

_She lands with a grunt, rolling a few times and landing on her stomach. “Okay,” she groans, pushing herself up and rubbing her head. “_ Maybe _you were right—”_

_She’s alone. She’s not even in the same place she had been. She’s in a clearing lined by trees, and she’s_ alone _._

_“Adora?” Her voice cracks as she whirls around. “Adora! Where—?”_

_A light blinds Catra for a moment; she raises a hand, grimacing. If this is a joke, she’s going to be pissed. The light fades, revealing… a sword? “What the…” She lowers her hand, staring. Her first, errant thought is “oooooh, shiny,” but that quickly passes in favor, “What the fuck is that?”_

_It’s a long, slim blade, glowing in shades of soft red and blue, with a thick a golden hilt. There’s a blue stone embedded in the middle. “Whoa.” She steps closer, half reaching out. She freezes when she realizes there’s light on the peripherals of her vision, and immediately tries to snatch whatever is making the light. Her hand touches the mask framing her her face. “What the…?”_

_“Balance.”_

_She blinks, whipping around as the voice whispers through the air. “What? Who’s there? Adora?”_

_“Balance must be restored.”_

_“Huh?” Catra turns again. “What do you — where are—”_

_“...Catra? Catra, wake up!”_

_Her eyes snap open, immediately finding a pair of worried blue eyes looking down at her. “Adora?” she asks shakily, pushing herself up. Adora immediately throws her arms around Catra, hugging her tight._

_“About time! Do you know how worried I was? I think you hit your head when you fell. Are you okay?”_

_She says this in a rush, pulling away to check Catra’s head. “What…” She grabs Adora’s wrist with one hand and reaches up with the other, pulling the mask off her face. It’s the same crimson red as usual._

_“Catra?” Adora is frowning, eyes sweeping up and down her friend. “Are you okay? Let me see—”_

_“I’m fine,” Catra says quickly, putting the mask back on and standing. “Come on, let’s go back to the skiff.”_

_Relief and concern are at war on Adora’s far too readable face. “Ready to go home?”_

_“Yeah. I think I am.”_

Arrow Boy’s tracker pad beeps, jarring Catra back to reality. “Oh hey, Glimmer! I picked up that energy signal from earlier!”

“What?” Sparkles stops, turning to look at him. “Where is it?”

“Not too far. Just a few miles east!”

Sparkles looks at Catra, frowning, then back at Arrow Boy. “I dunno. We have Horde Scum over here. Maybe we should come back for whatever is causing the energy signal later.”

“Do you really think your mom is ever going to let you leave the palace again after this?”

Catra snorts, trying not to laugh. “Your _mom_? Is that what this is all about? You’re trying to impress your _mother_? Wow, Sparkles, that is _sad_ —”

“Be quiet!” Sparkles snaps, glaring at at Catra before looking back at Bow. “Of course she will.” But she looks conflicted now. “If it’s that close, though…”

Arrow Boy grins. They ignore Catra whispering about “ _mommy issues_ ” as they follow the tracker pad’s directions.

_“Why does she hate me so much?” Catra grumbles, staring out at the garbage pile they call_ home _. “Must be easy being the favorite.”_

_“C’mon, Catra.” Adora sighs._

_“And don’t say ‘she doesn’t hate you’—”_

_“I don’t think she hates you,” Adora interrupts. Catra bites her tongue. Adora is_ always _interrupting her. Catra scoffs. “I know, I know. But hear me out — you’re so much better than you let anyone see. You could beat my times in training sims if you wanted. I don’t understand why you act lazy and blow off drills.”_

_“I don’t blow off drills! I was_ there _this morning, wasn’t I? It’s not_ my _fault they don’t like my way of training.” Catra huffs, pushing herself up on the railing and began walking along the thin strip of metal. She can_ feel _Adora’s worried gaze on her back._

_“If you just did things the way they said—”_

_“I don’t_ want _to do things the way they say!” Catra whirls on one foot, throwing her hands in the air. “We’ve been running the same training drills every day since we were_ ten _, Adora. They never want to do anything_ new _. I’m sorry if I feel like I’m wasting my time destroying bots and watching Kyle get shot down in the first five minutes.”_

_“You could talk to the force captains about it—”_

_“No one listens to me, and you know it.” She crouches again, then flops back on the rail. No one listens to her when the golden child is around._

_Adora leans over to look at Catra, frowning. “I’m force captain now, and I listen to you.”_

_“Yeah, for now,” Catra grumbles._

_“Hey, don’t be like that. You know I’ve always got your back.”_

_Catra sighs, then smiles a little. “Yeah, dork, I know.” She shoves Adora’s face away, laughing._

Adora is probably worried about her, Catra thinks, shoulders falling. Drills are starting soon. Adora is probably already awake, punching a heavy bag and biting her lip and thinking about all the ways she’s going to kill Catra when she finally gets back, hoping she’s still alive to kill, _knowing_ Shadow Weaver isn’t going to care if Catra never comes back…

“Whoa.”

The two breathless voices rouse Catra out of her thoughts again. She looks forward, following her captors’ gazes…

“The sword!”

It’s there, just like she remembers it, glowing and wrapped in thorns. Arrow Boy and Sparkles turn to look at her. “You know what that is?”

Catra blinks a few times, then shakes off her shock, training her expression into something more apathetic. “Yeah, it’s a sword, princess. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen one.”

“You said _the_ sword,” Arrow Boy pointed out. “Like you’ve seen this specific one.”

That earns him a hiss. The two glare at Catra for a moment before she finally gives in. “ _Fine_. My friend and I were here earlier and I was messing around, fell out of a tree—”

“Oh, brain damage. I was hoping there was another explanation for your personality.”

Catra ignores Sparkles. “And I had this… dream, I guess? Vision? I don’t know. This is why I came back.”

The rebels exchange a look. “With _out_ your friend,” Sparkles clarifies.

“ _Yes_ , princess, without my friend. She’s a goody two-shoes and just got promoted, I wasn’t going to drag her into more trouble.”

“Wow, do you talk about _all_ your friends that way?”

Catra glowers. “Shut up! You don’t know anything about us—”

A loud rumbling cuts her off; they all whirl to see a giant, spider-like monster crashing through the trees. Sparkles yelps; Arrow Boy reaches back for his bow. “Untie me,” Catra demands.

“You’re our _prisoner_!”

“And a spider monster is about to _eat_ us! Have you two ever actually been in a fight?!”

Arrow Boy looks nervous. “Uh, Glimmer, maybe we should—”

“Absolutely not,” Sparkles says firmly. She disappears, reappearing behind the monster and shooting it with a blast of magic. Arrow Boy knocks an arrow into place, shooting it at the spider. It hits the spider’s face, covering it in green goo. Catra wiggles away, twisting her arm and wincing. She’s dislocated her own shoulder before to escape from something. She would _do_ it, but she doesn’t _like_ it.

_Come on, come on, come on_ …

Sparkles doesn’t seem to be doing much damage with her sparkly lights. The spider keeps swiping and snarling at her, barely phased by her attacks. Arrow Boy is doing slightly better, but he has a slightly better weapon. Neither of them are going to survive this fight.

_That’s not my problem_.

Catra twists her wrist, finally getting an angle to cut through the rope. _Ha!_ She has to twist her arm at an angle that’s just a _little_ unnatural, but hey, she’s a cat. “Sorry rebels, I’d love to stay, but I’ve got training drills to get to,” she calls, backing up. “Bye!”

She jumps off into the trees, ignoring the yelling behind her.

* * *

_I’m going to kill her_.

Adora paces back and forth in the locker room, fiddling with her badge. It still feels weird to have that. Good. But weird. Good weird.

Catra is still gone. Sure, it’s not uncommon for her to skip or do her own version of training two days in a row, but she stands out. People will notice eventually that she’s gone. Adora chews on her thumbnail, rocking slightly on her heels.

_Come on Catra, you promised_.

She should have tried harder to make Catra stay. She shouldn’t have let Catra leave at all. What if she’s hurt? Or dead? That’s the only reason Adora can _imagine_ she isn’t back yet. Or she’s lost or…

“Adora.”

The drawl of her name jerks her out of her growing panic; she straightens up, trying to wipe the worry off her face. “Shadow Weaver.”

“It’s rather quiet today, isn’t it?” The words are said in a knowing tone, like Shadow Weaver already knows what’s wrong, but won’t say it.

“Is it?” Adora forced a smile. She can almost _hear_ Catra, wherever she is, rolling her eyes and muttering about Adora being a terrible liar.

“Adora.”

That voice breaks Adora. It always does. “Catra left last night,” she says, defeated. “She didn’t tell me where she was going, just that she would be back before drills.”

“I would have been more impressed if she had actually made it back,” Shadow Weaver scoffs. Adora’s shoulders hunch slightly.

“She promised me. I think something might have happened—”

“Adora, you worry too much about her.” The sorceress puts her hands on Adora’s shoulders. “She’s going to hold you back if you keep trying to take care of her.”

“She’s my friend.”

“And your loyalty is admirable. But do you really think she deserves it?” Adora bites her tongue, cutting off the angry response that comes to mind. Of course Catra deserves it. They’ve been friends for years, there’s just a side of her that Shadow Weaver has never seen—

“Please let me look for her. The rest of my squad can do training drills without me.”

Shadow Weaver sighs a long, putout sigh. “If she’s not back by afternoon, we’ll look into searching for her.” It’s a concession, and a reluctant one at that, but Adora will take it.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

* * *

Glimmer hits the ground with a groan, quickly teleporting before the spider can spear her with its leg. Bow fires another arrow, landing a good shot in its abdomen, but it’s like a papercut. Nothing is stopping this thing.

_We’re going to die_ , Glimmer thinks, panicked. _We’re going to die and it’s all my fault and it was for nothing and we lost the Horde soldier and_ —

Bow yells; Glimmer whirls to see him cornered by the spider, trying to fight it off with any trick arrow he can grab.

“Bow—!”

She’s cut off by another yell, this one stronger, more confident. The yell of a soldier about to attack.

Glimmer watches in shock as the red-clad Horde soldier came out of the trees, landing on the spider’s head with her claws unsheathed and clawing at one of the spider’s eyes. The spider screeched, jerking back, and the soldier jumped off its back, landing a few feet away.

“Horde Scum?” Glimmer asks in disbelief. “You came back?”

“Yeah, I don’t get it either.” She straightens up, flexing her fingers. “And it’s _Catra_ , by the way.”

The spider turns, rearing back. Catra jumps away, dodging a blow, and leaps again to claw at another eye. Bow grabs another arrow, letting it loose and hitting the spider in the middle; the arrow embeds itself in the spider and explodes, eliciting a terrible screech. The spider sweeps its legs out, catching Catra mid-jump and sending her slamming into the cliff wall that acts as the fourth side of the clearing. Glimmer swipes her hand through the air, gathering magic and disappearing to get a closer shot at the spider’s head, since that seems to be the weak spot.

_Balance._

Catra groans, raising her head and blinking blearily. The sword is a few feet away from her, shining brightly. She sees the light in her peripherals again, and reaches up to yank her mask off. It’s glowing and pulsing in time with the sword.

_Etheria needs balance. It needs a hero_.

She hears Sparkles and Arrow Boy yelling as they start to buckle under the spider’s attacks, but it sounds so far away. “I don’t get it,” she says dumbly, looking between her mask and the sword.

_Take the sword. Complete your destiny_.

“Why?” she demands. “What is this? Why am I talking to a voice?”

_Bring balance to the universe_.

“Why me?”

_You’re the only one who can_.

Catra slowly places her mask back on, reaching for the sword, fingers tightening around the hilt…

And light explodes throughout the clearing. The spider is distracted; Bow and Glimmer cover their eyes to keep from being blinded.

The light consumes Catra as she slowly stands, still not quite pulling the sword out. It feels… good. Right. Like it’s been made to fit in her hand. “I… I don’t understand. Is this okay?”

_Take the sword. Complete your destiny_.

Catra closes eyes and pulls the sword free.

The spider stills, as mesmerized by the light as Glimmer and Bow are. They watch, mouths hanging open, as the light shrinks in, tightening around a slim figure, then dispersing. And it’s… Catra? It looks like her. Her formerly dark mask is glowing a bright red, her wild hair flowing down her back. She looks… older, somehow. The crimson parts of her clothes have been replaced with lighter shades of red, save for the dark shoulder pads on her shoulders.

“Uh… Glimmer?”

“Yeah, I see it.”

They watch, mesmerized, as the spider turns. Instead of attacking, however, it seems to bend, as if in some kind of weird bow. As if it’s… satiated by the presence before it.

Catra is panicking internally, trying not to let it show. What is this? What happened? Why is she — what is she — what the _fuck_? She looks at the sword in her hand, then brings her other hand up to skim the mask with her fingers. What does it mean? What does any of it mean?

“Should… Should we run?” Bow whispers to Glimmer, who shakes in her head in return.

“No. I don’t want to leave her.”

“I know you want to bring a prisoner home, but—”

“That’s not what this is about.” There’s something strange about the ethereal, goddess-like figure standing before them. Something _almost_ familiar. Like a friend Glimmer hasn’t seen in many years.

Catra steps forward, toward the spider, reaching out and resting a hand on its head, like she’s _petting_ it. And worse, the spider seems to _purr_. After a moment it straightens up, and hobbles off into the woods without another word. Bow and Glimmer stare after it, mouths agape.

“What…”

“What just…”

“Happened?”

They exchange looks, then look at Catra, who seems just as confused as they are. She blinks a few times, the unnatural glow behind her eyes fading, leaving the bewildered heterochromatic stare in its wake. Her breath is starting to come in small, uncertain gasps, shivers racking her form, goosebumps forming under her fur.

_What the fuck just happened?!_

And then the tall, weird version of Catra is gone, replaced by her small, regular self with one hand wrapped loosely around the hilt of the sword. Bow and Glimmer are afraid to say anything, but it turns out not to matter as Catra’s eyes roll back in her head. Bow dives forward to stop her from hitting the ground.

“Is she…?”

Bow checks her pulse, and shakes his head. “Just wiped out, I think. Let’s find a cave or somewhere to hide. I don’t think we’re going to make it back to Bright Moon any time soon.”

Glimmer groaned, covering her eyes. “Mom is going to kill us.”

“Probably.” Bow scoops Catra into her arms, looking around. “Come on, there’s got to be some shelter around here.”

Glimmer nods slowly and steps forward, leading the way.


	2. Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra reluctantly follows Glimmer and Bow with the promise of a quick route home once they're somewhere safe. Adora worries. Shadow Weaver schemes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to put this on a weekly update schedule, but I also wanted to post the second chapter since I don't feel like the first one really stands well on its own - it's like a two-part episode, the first part is largely set up, the second part is all the action. This is all the action. Including getting into the fucked up ways Shadow Weaver has manipulated them, especially Adora. Good times.

Catra _still_ isn’t back.

Adora drums her fingers against the railing, looking out at the Fright Zone. The Whispering Woods aren’t visible from where she is, but it’s all she can see in her mind.

 _Come on Catra_ …

As if silently begging her will do any good. Adora sighs, resting her forehead in her hand. _If she’s dead, I’m going to kill her_.

* * *

 _Shadows hover over her, clawed hands reaching for her, wrapping around her, choking her_ —

“Ah!”

Catra shoots up, breathing heavily, eyes darting around. She’s… in a cave? “Hey.” A hand touches her shoulder. She hisses, claws out as she whirls around. The person screams.

“Whoa, hey, don’t kill me!”

Catra blinks a few times, eyes adjusting to the gloom. It’s Arrow Boy, with Sparkles right behind him, ready to… well, probably attack Catra, as if she could. “What…” She blinks a few times, swallowing. “What’re you — where—” She reaches up, noticing the lack of familiar weight around her face. “Where’s my mask?”

“We took it,” Sparkles says simply. Catra looks to see it behind the other two, along with the sword.

“What the hell?!”

“You’re still our prisoner. And that mask obviously gives you some sort of weird powers.”

“I am _not_ your prisoner,” Catra shoots back heatedly. “I escaped. And _then_ I came back and saved your sorry asses, so would a _thank you_ kill you?”

“Why _did_ you save us?” Arrow Boy asks, raising an eyebrow. Catra deflates slightly, biting her tongue.

“I don’t know. It wasn’t a fair fight.”

“Since when does the _Horde_ care about fair?” Sparkles says. Catra glares at her.

“I should’ve just let you die. That’s what you get when you’re stupid and get in over your head. You two wouldn’t last a day in an actual battle.”

“Oh, and you would?”

“Uh, yeah? _I’m_ actually a trained soldier. You’re just a princess playing make believe.”

“Hey!”

The girls stop and turn to Arrow Boy, who looks just as surprised by his shout as he is. “Um… that was louder than I was expecting. Look, I get it, you don’t like us, we’re the Rebellion, you’re the Horde, but right now _we_ are all trapped in the Whispering Woods and if we don’t get out of here, we’re going to die. So can you just stop fighting long enough for us to get home?” No answer. “I’m just going to assume that’s a yes. Okay. We never introduced ourselves. I’m Bow, and this is Glimmer.”

“Wow, your parents didn’t work hard on names, did they?” Catra scoffs.

“I’m sorry, what did you say your name was? _Catra?_ ”

“Oh that’s cute, you assume I had a guardian who _cared_ about me.” Bow and Glimmer exchange uncertain looks. “Yeah, surprise, not everyone gets to live in a palace and have magical powers and be happy.”

“Do you seriously think—”

Bow puts a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder. She glares at Catra for a moment before scooping up the sword and mask, storming passed the other girl. “The Horde killed my father,” she informs Catra coolly. “Not all of us get to be _happy_.”

Catra hisses in response, turning on her heel and following the princess out, with Bow pulling up the rear. They walk in silence for a bit, Bow tapping away at his tracker pad, trying to find a way out of here.

“Are you going to give me my mask back?” Catra asks Glimmer after nearly an hour.

“Absolutely not. It’s clearly a powerful artifact.”

“I found it in a box when I was fifteen and thought it looked cool. Trust me, if it had any powers, Shadow Weaver would’ve already leeched it all off. And she sure as hell wouldn’t have let me keep it.”

“Well, maybe she made a mistake.”

Catra laughs. “Oh, trust me, Shadow Weaver is a _lot_ of things, but stupid isn’t one of them. She doesn’t make _mistakes_.”

“Defending your master, are you?”

Bow winces when he sees the claws come out of Catra’s fingers. “She could drop dead tomorrow, and I’d dance on her corpse.” Her voice is ice cold and threatening in a way neither of them have heard up to this point. It’s a little frightening.

“No love lost?” Bow guessed weakly.

“Shadow Weaver is a terrible human being. And I use _human_ loosely. But if you’re the best the Rebellion has to offer, then she’s going to roll right over you and not even feel the bump.”

“Then why doesn’t she?” Glimmer shoots back. “If she’s so powerful, why not just burn the Whispering Woods and come at us?”

“I don’t know, we don’t really exchange battle strategies over tea or anything,” Catra sneers, rolling her eyes. “But I’ll make sure to suggest it to her when I get back. Maybe I’ll get a nice little pat on the head.”

“Wow, you _really_ don’t like her,” Bow says, raising an eyebrow.

“How could you—”

The sarcastic response is cut off when Glimmer stops suddenly, and Catra walks into her. “Hey! Keep it going Sparkles, I don’t wanna spend all day here.”

Glimmer doesn’t rise to the taunt, however. Her eyes are filled with tears as she stares straight ahead. Catra finally turns, and sees the destroyed village they’ve stumbled upon. Her eyes sweep across it, taking the details in — the burning buildings, the abandoned belongings, the broken toys on the ground…

Glimmer shoves Catra away, fury in her eyes. “Is _this_ what you were doing here? Trying to admire your handiwork?”

Catra scoffs. “I’m a cadet, I’m not exactly running around in raiding parties. I didn’t know anything about this. Would you calm down?”

“ _Calm down_?”

Bow holds his hands up helplessly, trying to stop them. It does no good. “It’s a _war_ , princess, people get hurt! You can’t be so damn sensitive to every single thing—”

“This was an _innocent_ village! How are you just _okay_ with that?”

“I can’t stop what Shadow Weaver and Hordak tell their soldiers to do!”

They’re both yelling now, trying to compete for volume. “But you’re _with them_! If someone told you to go destroy a village, would you?”

“Do you understand how an _army_ works, Sparkles? You can’t be this stupid and somehow still be alive!”

Glimmer breaks; she drops the sword and mask and fires a blast of magic at Catra. It’s too close, leaving no chance to dodge. Catra yells as she flies back a few feet, hitting the ground with a groan.

“Glimmer!”

Bow’s protests are ignored. She kicks the discarded items aside, storming toward Catra. “You _choose_ to align yourself with them! You _choose_ to be part of this army! How can you do that knowing what they do?”

Catra surges up, shoving Glimmer as hard as she can. “I don’t owe you an explanation for what I do! If you’ve got a problem with it, I’ll _happily_ go! You two can die in this place for all I care!”

“Wait!”

Bow makes a bold choice, jumping to put himself between the two of them. “Can you guys just… stop? Please? We shouldn’t be splitting up now, that’s a terrible idea—”

“I’m not here to babysit the two of you,” Catra snaps. She steps around Bow and quickly swipes her mask from the ground, putting it back on. “I’ve wasted enough time with this.” She whirls on her heel, starting to storm away. “Adora’s probably driving herself crazy—”

“Is that your friend?” Bow asks curiously. Catra stops, shoulders twitching slightly.

“Shut it, Arrow Boy.”

“Look, I get it. You don’t want to be here. Neither do we. But we have a better chance of getting out if we stick together. Once we’re safe, I’ll give you the quickest route back to the Fright Zone.”

Catra is quiet for a moment, glaring at the ground. “What do you care if I die here?” she finally asks, voice hard.

“I… You saved us earlier,” Bow says slowly. “You didn’t have to do that. I wouldn’t feel right just letting you walk off.”

“Tch.” Catra hisses between her teeth, finally turning back to them. Her gaze locks on Glimmer, who glares back. “Ugh, _fine_. By the way, Sparkles, that shot was pathetic. You might wanna work on that.”

Glimmer clenches her fists, a frustrated scream squeezing out from between her pressed lips. Bow sighs, swooping down to grab the sword. “Come on. I think we’re close to another village or something. Maybe we can get help there.”

The trio sets off again. The tension in the air is almost thick enough to create a wall between them. “So…” Bow says finally, hating the silence, “Adora?”

Catra groans. “ _Yes_ , that’s my friend, okay? And she’s probably freaking out right now.”

“Didn’t know Horde soldiers have _friends_ ,” Glimmer mutters darkly.

“Well I didn’t know princesses come in pocket size, so I guess we’re both learning new things today,” Catra snaps. Glimmer scowls.

“Sounds like you care a lot about Adora,” Bow says quickly. Catra rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, she’s an idiot. Someone needs to save her from herself.”

“And that’s your job?”

“It’s about the only thing Shadow Weaver thinks I’m good for.”

Glimmer’s hard expression twitches for a moment. She knows better than to say she understands that, but her mind does immediately flash to her mother.

“I dunno, you seem like you’re good at a lot of things,” Bow says. “You’re an amazing fighter.”

“You don’t seem that hard to impress.”

“I don’t really see much hand-to-hand combat, so maybe I’m not,” Bow admits. “Doesn’t mean I’m wrong, though.”

Catra looks away, eyes going distant. When was the last time anyone had told her she was _good_ at something? She can’t remember. Even the warmth that washes through her at the compliment is completely foreign.

“Maybe.”

* * *

“Okay, seriously, where’s Catra?”

Adora winces, turning back to Lonnie and trying to smile. “Probably sleeping on the roof again, you know what she’s like—”

She immediately crumbles when Lonnie raises her eyebrow. “Look, I don’t care if Catra wants to blow off training or whatever, but if she’s run out to do something stupid and gotten herself killed, that’s all of our problems.”

“Psh.” Adora laughs unconvincingly. “She’s not _dead_.”

 _I hope_.

Lonnie shakes her head. “A’right. If you say so.”

Adora turns quickly and hurries out of the locker room. It’s been long enough. She needs to talk to Shadow Weaver and—

“Ah, Adora.” Speak of the devil. “I was just coming to find you.”

Adora’s heart leaps. “Is this about Catra? I really think she’s in trouble—”

“We have more important things to worry about than one rogue cadet,” Shadow Weaver dismisses Adora’s concerns. “The scheduled raid on Thaymor has been moved up. You will be leading the party out in an hour.”

“What?” Adora gapes, mouth hanging open. “B-But you said I could look for Catra if she wasn’t back—”

“I said we’ll _see_ about looking for her. But we must prioritize, and Thaymor has moved up on the list. Are you going to lead, or are you going to worry about Catra?”

Adora fiddles with the badge on her chest, staring at the ground. Finally her shoulders drop. “I’ll lead,” she says quietly.

“Good girl.” Shadow Weaver rests a hand on her cheek, tilting her head up to look at her. “I knew I could depend on you to do what needs to be done.”

Adora nods once and turns away, dejected. _I’ll find her after. Thaymor is near the woods. I can slip out while everyone else is busy. It’ll be fine._

Shadow Weaver watches Adora go and sighs, turning to retreat to her chamber. She’s been keeping an eye on the meddlesome cat, of course — wandering the woods, lost, with two equally inept members of the Rebellion.

But she had seen the brief transformation. The sword, the mask, the way they glowed together. _How had she released its magic?_ There’s nothing particularly magical or special about Catra. She has no magic talent; Shadow Weaver had tried to find even the slightest bit in her to make her worth keeping around. And she found nothing.

And now she’s on route to Thaymor, if they keep going in the same direction. Adora will bring her home, of course. Her care for the mongrel is bewildering, but helpful in this instance. Adora will bring Catra home.

And Shadow Weaver _will_ rip the power out of that mask. Even if she has to kill Catra to do it.

* * *

“Thaymor!”

Bow and Glimmer squeal quietly, hugging each other. They’ve come out on the very edge of a village that’s apparently familiar to them. _Thaymor_. The word rings a bell. Catra frowns, trying to remember.

“Ooooooooooooooh, looks like they’re having a party.”

“Bow, no!” Glimmer smacks his arm. “We just need to get a ride back to Bright Moon and get rid of _her_. Speaking of which," she turns to Catra, "can you _not_ walk in there looking like that?”

“Uh, why?” Catra asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Because people are going to freak out if they see a Horde soldier.” Glimmer grabs the thin belt off Catra’s waist, tossing it aside. “Also you just _look_ kind of creepy.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, I know.” Bow grabs the cape off Glimmer’s back and tosses it over Catra’s shoulders. “Everything looks better with a cape.”

“Are you _kidding_ me?”

“It _is_ kind of cute.” Glimmer smirks when Catra’s tail puffs, and she hisses. “Come on, let’s find a ride.”

They wander into the village, blending easily with the crowd. Catra draws in slightly on herself, looking around. She hates crowds. They’re too loud, and there are too many smells…

Except for that moment, she realizes, sniffing. “What’s that smell?”

“Huh?” Bow looks around. “Oh, fresh-baked bread! Glimmer, can we—?”

“No.”

“What’s bread?”

The two stop, looking back at Catra, who stares right back at them. “What… What do you eat in the Fright Zone?” Bow asks nervously.

“Ration bars, mostly. Sometimes when people come back from missions they’ll bring outside contraband, but it’s mostly sweets and chocolate and I’m allergic to that, so…” They’re both giving her pitying looks. “What?”

Bow looks pleadingly at the princess. “Glimmeeeeeer…”

Glimmer sighs, rolling her eyes. “ _Fine_ , Bow. Take her to get some bread while I find us a ride.”

Bow squeals, grabbing Catra’s arm and dragging her off. “Wha — hey! I never said I wanted anything!”

“But you’ve gotta try it! Oh, there’s cake too! Wait, you said you’re allergic to chocolate, right? Well, there are other kinds of cake. And _ice cream_!”

They’ve arrived at a table with what looked like a bunch of weird balls. Bow grabs two, keeping one for himself and handing the other to Catra. She watches him take a bite before she carefully does the same and…

 _Oh,_ she hates to admit that it’s good. She really does. But it’s delicious, and she hasn’t eaten since her last meal in the Fright Zone… how long had it been, now? So she can hardly be blamed if she wolfs down the bread roll. And the next two Bow hands her. And whatever he hands her after that. He’s beaming, clearly proud of himself.

“See? It’s good, right? Oh, we should get you a drink, too.”

A small hand grabs the cape, distracting Catra; she looks down to see a wide-eyed blonde girl looking up at her. “Can I pet your ears?” she asks hopefully. Catra blinks a few times, trying to figure out how to kindly say hell no, but those puppy eyes are too familiar…

“Sure.” She sighs, kneeling to give the girl better access. The girl squeals, already reaching to start petting.

Bow realizes he’s lost Catra as he gets two cups of juice. He turns, scanning the crowd… and struggles not to laugh when he sees Catra kneeling and letting the girl pet her. Another child approaches as he watches, then another.

“Okay, I got someone to give us a ride,” Glimmer says, walking up behind him. “Do you think we can just leave her here to get back to the Fright Zone on — wait, where is she?”

Bow adjusts the drinks to point. Catra has at least seven kids around her now, all reaching to pet various parts of her head. Glimmer coughs, trying to hide the burst of hysterical laughter that bubbles up her throat. She’s so tired, and that is possibly the cutest thing she’s ever seen.

“Can we bring her home?” Bow asks hopefully.

“Wha — Bow, she’s not a stray animal! And I really doubt she _wants_ to come with us.”

“But the Horde sounds so awful, and she sounds miserable when she talks about it.”

“Yeah, well, she wants to go back. Nothing we can do about it.”

 _Thaymor_. The word is still rattling around Catra’s brain. She’s relaxed, letting the kids pet her (and if she’s purring a little, no one else needs to know), and giving her space to think. Thaymor. Where’s she heard that name before?

_“So what’s your first mission?” Catra does her best not to be bitter. She can’t believe Shadow Weaver is keeping her trapped in the Fright Zone._

_“Just a raid, you know. Rebel stronghold called—”_

“Thaymor,” Catra’s breathes, eyes wide. “Uh, sorry kids, gotta go.”

She jumps up, ignoring the disappointed noises behind her as she shoves through the crowd.

“Bow! Glimmer!”

The two freeze, blinking slowly when they see Catra approaching them. “Did… Did you just use our names—?”

“Shut up!” She shoves them both into a small, quiet alley, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one is nearby. “There’s an attack planned on this place.”

“What?” Glimmer demands, immediately straightening up. “When?”

“I dunno. Adora didn’t say, and I wasn’t part of the raid party, so I didn’t get the briefing.”

Bow and Glimmer exchange grim glances. “Then we need to start evacuating,” Bow says finally. “ _Quietly_.”

“We need to find the village leaders.” Glimmer looks around, then suddenly turns back to Catra. “Why are you telling us this?”

“I… don’t know,” Catra says honestly, uncomfortably. She shifts her weight from foot to foot. Bow turns away so Catra doesn’t see him smiling.

She’s not nearly as heartless as she wants them to think she is.

They split up, Bow and Glimmer running into the village and Catra taking to the roofs, checking from all directions. She’s being paranoid, she’s sure. Adora just got promoted _yesterday_ , they’re not just going to send her out on a whim to—

“Oh, you’ve _got_ to be kidding,” she groans when she sees the incoming tanks. “Freaking Shadow Weaver.”

She turns, finds Glimmer talking to an older man, and jumps down. “They’re coming,” she says shortly.

“ _Now_?”

“Yes, now! Five minutes out, maybe.” Bow’s started gathering people, helping them into carts. It’s not going to be fast enough.

Glimmer grabs Catra’s arm. The world turns upside down for a moment, spinning, then they're back on the roof. Catra lands unceremoniously on her knees, groaning. “Is _that_ teleporting?” she asks weakly. Glimmer doesn’t answer; her eyes are fixed straight ahead, staring at the tanks. Catra notices that her clenched fists are shaking.

“We can’t fight them.” The tremble reaches her voice. “There’s no way.”

“Then don’t fight them.” Catra pushes herself up, yanking the cape off and tossing it back on Glimmer’s shoulders. “Pick your battles, Princess. That’s the first rule of staying alive in a war. Know what you can handle and when to retreat.”

Glimmer looks at Catra with questioning eyes. “And what are you going to do?”

That’s a good question. Catra looks between her and the approaching tanks. “I’m going to stay up here and keep an eye on things. You get down there and finish getting people out.”

Glimmer hesitates before nodding and disappearing again. Catra focuses on the tanks, crouching so they won’t see her.

_What are you going to do?_

A hand slowly drifts up to touch her mask. Bow still has the sword, but she swears she can feel a thrum of magic in the headpiece that wasn’t there before. Her ears twitch when she hears the mechanical sound of the tank barrel adjusting. “Incoming fire!” she calls down. They’ve evacuated the town at an impressive rate. But the first tanks will still beat them. And the first shell is coming now. It lands right in the middle of the village, sending shockwaves through the air as it explodes. Catra tumbles off her perch with a yelp.

_What are you going to do?_

She lies on the roof for a moment, looking at the sky. _The sky_. She’s never seen it before — nowhere in the Fright Zone is high enough to penetrate the ever-present smog. The Horde is evil. She knows that. She’s always known that. Adora is the one who truly believes they’re on the _good_ side. Catra doesn’t care. What does it matter?

A cry from below draws her attention; she lifts herself up to peek over the edge of the roof. The little blonde girl is in the middle of the street, crying, lost in the upheaval. The first tanks are closing in, one right on course to run her over. It isn’t going to stop.

_What are you going to do?_

“Glim—!”

There’s no time. She realizes that even as she tries to yell the princess’ name. Glimmer won’t be able to hear what Catra is saying, process it, and teleport fast enough to save the girl. The tank still isn’t stopping.

_What are you going to do?_

_This isn’t my problem._

_But I can’t let her die._

_It’s war. People die._

_This isn’t war. This is slaughter_.

The Horde is evil. Adora is misguided, trapped under Shadow Weaver’s thumb.

Catra? She’s none of those things.

She launches off the roof, grabbing the girl and tucking her in as she somersaults out of the way of the oncoming tank. She straightens up with the crying girl in her arms, yelling, “Glimmer!”

Glimmer looks back, gasps, and is immediately at Catra’s side as the tanks grind to a halt, and soldiers start flooding in. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Take her—”

“Catra!”

The familiar voice sends a shock through Catra. Glimmer hurriedly takes the little girl as Catra whirls to see a young blonde woman jumping down from one of the tanks.

“Adora!”

She rushes forward, and is immediately wrapped in a pair of strong arms. “Do you know how worried I was?” Adora demands as she pulls back to look at Catra. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, things kind of got weird.”

“I can tell.” Adora’s gaze hardens as she looks around to glare at Glimmer. “Did anyone hurt you?”

“No!” Catra says quickly. Glimmer disappears to put the girl in one of the outgoing carts, then reappears behind Catra. “No, really, I’m fine. Come on, let’s get back to the Fright Zone. This place is a bust. Shadow Weaver must have gotten bad intel or something.”

“You… do realize there’s a princess _right_ behind you, right?”

“Yeah, but she’s not — I mean, that has nothing to do with Thaymor. It’s just a village, it’s not worth the time. Sorry your first mission had to be so boring.”

Adora’s eyes narrow with suspicion. “Catra, are you _sure_ you’re okay? You remember what they taught us, right? The best strongholds—”

“Hide in plain sight, yeah, I know. I didn’t sleep through _every_ class. But this isn’t the same thing, I promise.”

Her eyes narrow further. “Maybe you should get in the tank,” she says slowly, pulling her staff from her belt.

“Adora—”

The blonde steps forward, putting an arm out and extending the staff. Glimmer stiffens, raising her fists. “Adora, will you listen to me?” Catra demands, grabbing Adora’s shoulder. “Seriously, let’s just go.”

“What did you do to her?” Adora asks Glimmer coldly.

“ _We_ didn’t do anything. Sounds like you and the Horde have done a _lot_ , though.”

She disappears as Adora swings her staff, appearing a few feet away. “Adora!” Catra grips her arm tight, forcing her to turn around. “I’m telling you, there’s just nothing here. Let’s _go_.”

“There’s a _princess_ here!”

“Please, she’s like… a baby princess. Is that really worth it?”

There’s something hard and unfamiliar in Adora’s gaze. It shakes Catra for a moment. “They messed with your head, didn’t they? It’s okay, Shadow Weaver can fix it when we get back—”

“What? No! That’s not—”

A yell cuts her off; she looks around to see Glimmer dodging a gun blast from a Horde soldier. Bow is a little ways off, taking down more soldiers with surprising speed. “Does this _look_ like some big rebel conspiracy?” Catra grabs Adora by the shoulders. “Just listen to me for _once_ , please. Call it off.”

Adora sighs, resting her free hand on Catra’s arm. “We’ll be home soon. I’m sorry.”

“What—”

A jolt runs through Catra’s spine. She yells in pain and surprise, collapsing. One of the soldiers had gotten behind her and shocked her with a stun baton.

Adora turns back to Glimmer, staff ready. “Don’t worry, _princess_ , I haven’t forgotten you.”

“You should listen to her,” Glimmer informs Adora. “Just walk away.”

“I don’t take orders from you.”

And with that she dives, swinging the staff again. Glimmer dodges, reappearing and trying to aim a blast of magic. But she’s worn out, and Adora is fast. She’s forced to dodge again.

Catra groans as the soldier tosses her over his shoulder, raising her eyes to look around. Everything is blurry, and her entire body hurts. But really, Shadow Weaver has done worse to her.

_Balance._

Something begins to glow in her peripheral.

 _The world needs balance. Etheria needs a hero_.

Her vision snaps into focus. Catra unsheaths her claws and rakes them across the soldier’s back; she breaks free of his grip, braces herself against his shoulder to flip, and then launches herself straight at Adora. The blonde is distracted, and doesn’t realize what’s happening until Catra has grabbed her staff. They tumble for a moment, wrestling for control over the weapon, until Catra finally rips it from Adora’s grasp and straightens up, breathing heavily.

Adora looks absolutely stunned as she stands to face Catra. “What are you—”

“Go. Home. Adora.” Catra retracts the staff and throws it back to its owner. She catches it without looking.

“I’m not leaving without you. And since when does your mask _glow_?”

It’s a good question — one of the many Catra will have when she’s had time to sit down and think. “There’s nothing for me in the Fright Zone. You know that.”

A myriad of emotions flit across Adora’s face. She wears her heart on her sleeve. “We can fix whatever they’ve done to you. Please just—”

A hand grabs Catra’s shoulder, and the world turns upside down. She tumbles out of the weird magical void and across the grass, groaning. “A little warning next time?” She drags herself up to see Bow and Glimmer on their knees, both looking as exhausted as she feels.

“Sorry.” Glimmer scrubs her face, looking at Catra. Her expression is unreadable. Or maybe Catra is just tired. Maybe both. Bow flops back on the ground, sprawling out.

“Are you guys okay?”

“I’ll live,” Glimmer says. Catra flashes a thumbs up in agreement, falling back to stare at the sky.

“So, that was your friend, huh?”

“Yeah.” Catra looks north, to the smoke rising in the air. “That’s my friend.”

They’re silent for a moment. “Do you want to go back?” Glimmer finally asks. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have just dragged you away, but I thought… I don’t know. Thank you for saving me.”

“Any time, Sparkles.”

The words are out of her mouth before she has time to think about them. _Any time_. What does that mean?

Bow sits up slowly, meeting Catra’s gaze. “You didn’t answer her question. _Do_ you want to go back?”

Catra sits up as well, slowly reaching up to pull her mask off her face. It’s not glowing anymore. _There’s nothing for me in the Fright Zone_. Except Adora. But if she goes back now, she’ll just end up in the Black Garnet room having her memories of the last day and a half ripped out of her head.

And all of this feels too important to forget.

“I… don’t have anywhere else to go,” is what she finally settles on saying. Glimmer pushes herself up with a small smile, offering her hand.

“You can come up with us.”

Catra looks up in surprise, eyes flicking between Glimmer’s face and hand.

_What are you going to do?_

_Etheria needs a hero_.

She closes her eyes, blows out a long breath, and puts her mask back on. “Yeah,” she says slowly. “I guess I could see what princess life is like.”

She takes Glimmer’s hand.

* * *

The punching bag gives out before Adora does; the rusted bolts keeping it attached to the ceiling finally give out, and the bag goes flying back after a particularly strong punch. Adora gasps for breath, swiping a strand of hair out of her face.

“Adora.”

She whirls and stands up straight to face Shadow Weaver. “I heard the raid on Thaymor was a success. Good job.”

“Thank you.” Adora hesitates before continuing. “But the… the Rebellion captured Catra.”

“Is that so?”

“I believe they’ve… brainwashed her or something. She wasn’t making any sense when I talked to her.” Adora relaxes slightly, no longer talking to her commanding officer, but appealing to the woman who had raised her. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing. We need to save her.”

A cruel smirk pulls at Shadow Weaver’s lips. She had watched the fight, of course. What shifted Catra’s loyalty is a complete mystery, but Adora’s right about one thing. They need to get her back. She’s tapped into the power of the mask somehow.

And Shadow Weaver wants it.

“We’ll get her back, Adora.” The sorceress reaches out, tucking the strand of loose hair back behind Adora’s ear before resting a hand on her cheek. “Don’t worry.”

Adora smiles, true gratitude in her eyes. “Thank you, Shadow Weaver.”


	3. Bright Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glimmer introduces Catra to her mother. It may or may not be a disaster. That remains to be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're going to have a lot of questions and squint a lot at some choices I made. Just trust me? And I'll try to answer questions at the end of the chapter. Or you can ask me in reviews! I like talking about things.

“Welcome to Bright Moon!”

Catra scrubs her eyes, sighing. “I’d rather see a bed,” she mutters, squinting up at the palace. “Is everything always this bright?”

Glimmer sighs, looking back at Catra. “Listen, selling you as an ally to my mother is already going to be hard. Do you think you could be a little less… you?”

“Rude,” Catra scoffs.

“I’m just saying, you seem like you can be really nice. I saw you letting those kids pet you.” Catra blushes, looking away. “And you saved us. You’re capable of being nice.”

“I’m not pretending just to make your mother like me.”

“You could turn into the big lady again?” Bow suggests, holding the sword out. “She was pretty impressive.”

“Uh, _no_ ,” Catra says. “Listen, I’m not going to put on an act. Acts fall apart and let people down. I’ve found it’s better to set the bar low.”

Bow and Glimmer exchange looks. This is going to be a disaster.

“Okay, well. We’ll figure it out. Bow, take her in the back way. I’ll deal with my mom.”

“Back way?” Catra asks as Glimmer disappears.

“Yeah, come on — and uh, maybe don’t let anyone see you?” Bow suggests weakly. “Horde soldiers aren’t exactly…”

“Welcome around here?” Catra guesses. “Don’t worry, I’m used to that. Come on.”

The back way, it turns out, is climbing a cliff up to Glimmer’s room. “I… didn’t expect you to enjoy this,” Bow says, surprised, as he watches Catra propel herself passed him.

“Are you kidding? This is _way_ better than the front door.” She laughs. It’s such a weirdly pure sound, Bow thinks with a smile.

They climb into Glimmer’s bedroom, and all of Catra’s defenses go back up. She presses against the wall and stays near the window, just in case. “What’re you gonna do, jump out if Glimmer’s mom doesn’t like you?”

“Pretty much.”

The door opens; they both jump to attention as Glimmer hurries in, saying, “I know this is going to be a little weird, but just hear me out—”

A tall woman with pale pink skin and pink hair walks in behind Glimmer. Catra can see the resemblance. Her ears twitch when the woman’s eyes land on her, and she stops, surprise flicking through her expression.

“You found a magicat?”

“A what?” Bow and Glimmer say at the same time. Even Catra is only vaguely familiar with the term, and she knows it’s in reference to her.

The queen looks Catra up and down, frowning as if she doesn’t like what she sees. Catra’s used to that, at least. “You’re with the Horde.” It’s not a question.

“Not really, anymore. If I go back now my commanding officer will…” Catra’s voice drifts off, and she shudders slightly. “I can’t go back, just trust me on that one.”

“Hmm.” The woman doesn’t sound overly impressed. “And how have you come to be in my daughter’s bedroom?”

“A very _weird_ series of unfortunate events.”

“We found her in the woods,” Glimmer speaks up quickly. “Bow found an energy signal, and we were tracking it, and we ran into her and captured her—”

“Uh, getting a sucker punch in isn’t really _capturing_ me.”

Glimmer ignores that, “And then we found — Bow, show her.”

Bow holds out the sword. The queen’s expression melts into surprise, eyes wide. “That sword… you found it in the woods?” She looks at Catra. “And what were you doing there?”

“Um… well my friend and I stole a skiff and crashed in the woods, then we decided to explore, and I guess I fell out off a tree and hit my head… anyway I had a dream about the sword while I was unconscious, but she basically dragged me back to the Fright Zone as soon as I woke up. I went back to look for it later and…” She waves a hand at Glimmer and Bow. “Found these two.”

The queen looks between the sword and Catra for a moment. “May I see your mask?” she asks finally. Catra makes a face but slips it off, holding it out. The queen takes it, examining it for a long moment. “There’s magic in this. Where did you get it?”

“I don’t really remember — somewhere in the forge? I got sick of the training uniforms when I was like fifteen and started digging around for my own clothes. I found that and thought it was cool. Then I thought Shadow Weaver was going to kill me when she—”

A dark flash flicks across the queen’s expression. Catra immediately shuts up. “Shadow Weaver,” she repeats finally, slowly. Catra nods once. “That’s your commanding officer?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know the mask was magical or anything. If it was, I figured she would’ve leeched off it years ago.”

_“That looks so dumb.”_

_“Does not,” Catra argues, flopping back on the bench. “Just because_ you _have the fashion sense of a rock—”_

_“Hey!” Adora huffs, pulling her jacket on. “Where did you even get it?”_

_Catra lifts a hand to the new mask, shrugging. “Some closet. Probably something someone thought they threw out years ago.”_

_“Working hard, I see.”_

_They both jerk up to see Shadow Weaver approaching them. She stops, and even if they can’t see her eyes, Catra can tell the sorceress is looking at her. “Where,” she starts, voice cold in a way that fills Catra with dread, “did you get_ that _?”_

_“I found it in a closet with some other junk.” She refuses to let Shadow Weaver see that she’s afraid. Instead she keeps her voice hard, her eyes narrowed. “Why?”_

_“Do you make a habit of stealing things that aren’t yours?”_

_“When they’re in a box with a layer of dust on it, yeah. Why, you want it?”_

_There’s a pause. And then, bewilderingly, Shadow Weaver_ chuckles _. “No, you keep it. It suits you.”_

_The girls stare, gaping, as Shadow Weaver turns away, leaving the locker room. “That… was weird,” Catra says, blinking a few times._

_“No kidding.”_

“It’s possible she wasn’t able to access the power,” the queen murmurs thoughtfully, jolting Catra back to reality.

“Wait, do you know what all this is?” Glimmer asks, surprised and eager.

“I have a guess…” The queen’s eyes lock on Catra again. “How much do you know about your people’s history?”

“Magicats?” Catra shrugs. “Nothing, really. I’ve lived in the Fright Zone my entire life. I only know the word because someone would bit — _complain_ about ‘that stupid mongrel magicat getting in the way’ a few times when I was a kid.”

Oh. Glimmer bites her lip to hide a frown. Angella doesn’t let herself openly react to that, but there’s a quiet anger brewing somewhere inside her.

“And the First Ones?”

“Just that they existed. History lessons weren’t really a big thing.”

Angella nods. “The stories are centuries old. Most believe them to be legends now.”

“But you don’t?”

“I believe what I see in front of me. And what I see right now are a sword and a mask that most believe don’t exist.” Angella silently holds her hand out for the sword; Bow hands it over. “The stories say that the First Ones rescued the magicats from another planet and they settled on Etheria. They sought to protect the planet from an ancient evil, and contained a Runestone with a sword, creating a weapon which could only be controlled by one person.” She holds up the sword. Light reflects off the opal in the hilt. “The magicats contributed as well, creating an object of pure magic to enhance the person’s physical abilities. One can not work properly with the other, however.”

Catra’s eyes fall to her mask, still in the queen’s thin hand. “So, let’s pretend for a minute any of this is real, how did one of them end up in the Whispering Woods, and the other end up in a box in the Fright Zone?”

“I can’t say,” Angella admits. “The magicats took their research and disappeared. It’s been over a thousand years since they were last seen. The stories say they disappeared underground to create their own kingdom, and have lived in peace ever since.”

She sets the sword down, taking the mask in both hands. “You said only one person can control it,” Glimmer pointed out. “Princesses are the only ones who can control runestones, right?”

“I see you _do_ listen when I talk,” Angella says wryly. “Yes, the princesses control the runestones. This one, however, is special — instead of passing down a family line, Etheria chooses someone to inherit the power. The sword and the mask utilize the power, allowing the chosen person to transform into the legendary princess, She-Ra.”

Bow and Glimmer look at Catra; she knows they’re thinking about her brief transformation in the woods. Catra looks down, suddenly very interested in her fingernails. “Well, I’m definitely not a princess,” she says, pushing herself up. Angella raises an eyebrow.

“But you’ve tapped into the power, haven’t you?”

“She did!” Bow says before Catra can argue. “We saw it in the woods, she grabbed the sword and _whoosh_ , princess!”

“It wasn’t quite like that,” Catra mutters. “And it doesn’t mean anything. Just… give them to someone else. I can make another mask that _isn’t_ magical.”

“It doesn’t quite work that way,” Angella says patiently. “If you’re the one Etheria has chosen, then only you can use this power.”

“Yeah, about this whole _chosen_ thing. I’m not exactly anything special, ya know. Born mediocre, will die mediocre.” That’s what Shadow Weaver has always told her, anyway. Angella almost smiles.

“Sometimes it’s the mediocre ones who have the most untapped potential.” She holds the mask out. Catra cautiously steps forward, taking it and putting it back on. “You have nowhere else to go, correct?”

“Yeah. But I can find somewhere else to go, I don’t need charity or anything.”

“Blunt.” Angella sounds amused now. “I appreciate that. We’ll have to talk a little more about your past connections, but I believe we can find a room for you here, if you want it. In return, however…” She takes the sword and holds it out to Catra as well. “You’ve been chosen as Etheria’s hero, whether you believe it or not. It may be hard, but you must embrace it.”

Catra hesitates for a long moment before slowly reaching out to take sword. “Okay,” she finally says. “I guess that’s a fair trade for not having to sleep in the rain.”

* * *

Having her own room is lonely.

Adora sighs, turning onto her side and staring at the wall. She had known that the promotion came with a private room, but she had also expected Catra to follow her there and claim a spot at the end of the bed, like she always did, no matter where they slept.

The bed feels so big and empty without her.

Adora rolls onto her back, groaning and pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes. Shadow Weaver has approved of her plan to track down Catra, but they can’t take action until they know _where_ she is. Adora suspects Bright Moon, but she can’t really run in there half-cocked and blast her way through their entire army.

Well, she can, but Shadow Weaver won’t approve _that_ plan.

 _I’ll save her_ , Adora thinks fiercely, forcing her eyes to close again. There’s no other option.

* * *

“This is bigger than the entire cadet bunk,” Catra says as she looks around, mouth hanging open.

“It’s just an average guest room,” Glimmer says breezily, teleporting about to point out the various amenities. Catra makes her way further into the room, checking the bed critically. She presses a hand into the mattress, cringing. The floor looks nice enough, though. “What do you think?” Glimmer reappears next to Catra, who jumps.

“I think surprising someone with a sword in their hand is a bad idea.”

“Oops.” Glimmer giggles. “Sorry. But the room?”

“It’s… big?” Catra rubs the back of her head. “Do I really need this much space?”

“It’s the smallest guest room we have.” Of course it is. “Are you hungry or anything? The kitchens are downstairs.”

“Uh, no, I’m good.” Catra sets the sword against the wall, frowning. “Hey, Sparkles?”

“Yeah?”

“Why is your mother letting me stay here? She doesn’t know me. She doesn’t know if I’m trustworthy or not. And I’m not exactly the friendliest.”

“I’m not sure,” Glimmer admits. “She’s frustrating sometimes, but she’s a good judge of character. Maybe she sees something you don’t know about yet.”

“Deep.” Catra sighs, finally allowing herself to breathe for the first time since she had left the Fright Zone. Glimmer smiles.

“I’ll be down the hall if you need me. Sleep well!”

She disappears. Catra looks at the bed with a sigh, then walks over to the window. There’s a nice little nook she can nestle in and watch the sky. That’s still so weird. She looks at the window, then gently pushes; it opens soundlessly, letting in fresh air, and she relaxes just a little, ears twitching at the ambient noises of night life echoing outside. A light wind stirs to life, ruffling the nearby trees of the Whispering Woods.

And she crashes. It feels like she’s lived a dozen lives in the last day. Exhaustion sweeps through her. Her eyelids are suddenly too heavy to hold open. She curls up in her usual sleeping position, tension draining from her all at once. And for the first time in her entire life, she allows herself to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

“Good morning!”

The peppy voice intrudes on Catra’s rest far too soon. _Adora_. She’s such unapologetic morning person, Catra swears vengeance on her during training—

Oh. Right. She opens one eye, glaring at Glimmer, who is clearly trying very hard not to laugh. “Do you uh… do you always sleep like this?”

“Shut up.” Catra uncurls and sits up, stretching.

“Didn’t like the bed?”

“Didn’t really get a chance to try it. I sat down, opened the window, and passed out. I kinda had a long day yesterday, ya know.”

“Discovering a magical destiny does sound exhausting.” Glimmer sat with her, looking out the window. “I love this view of Bright Moon. It’s gorgeous, especially with the Runestone.”

She nods to the giant white stone hovering high above the castle. “Not to question design choices or anything, but isn’t have your Runestone exposed like that kind of dangerous?”

“Bright Moon is protected by the Whispering Woods. And… I’m not sure if it can be moved,” Glimmer admits sheepishly. “It’s pretty big. Come on, let’s get something to eat. You’ve _got_ to be starving.”

She was, actually. The bread rolls and whatever else Bow had fed her also felt like another lifetime. “Food sounds good, actually.”

“Great, let’s go!”

Glimmer grabs her hand, and food immediately no longer sounds good. “Seriously?” Catra groans, collapsing against a counter and leaning over to rest her hands on her knees. “What did I say about warning?”

“Oh, right. Sorry, I’m not used to it hurting people.” Glimmer rubs the back of her head. “I wonder why it’s so hard on you.”

“Let’s not test it.” Catra takes a few deep breaths before pushing herself up. Glimmer hands her a slightly curved yellow… thing. “What’s this?”

“A banana. They’re good for when you feel sick, trust me.”

Catra takes it uncertainly, turning it over before going to take a bite. “Oh!” Glimmer grabs her hand quickly to stop her. “Right, I should’ve… You have to peel it.”

She shows Catra how to peel the skin off, and _finally_ Catra is allowed to eat. It does make her feel bit better. Or maybe that’s just the effect of eating for the first time in over twelve hours. Not that Catra hasn’t gone longer, but ration bars are usually filling enough that it doesn’t matter.

“So, what, big old palace with a queen and princess doesn’t have any servants or whatever?” she asks as she watches Glimmer bustle around the kitchen, finding more snacks.

“We have people who cook for us, yes,” Glimmer says. “My mom and I can… kind of cook a couple things, but we’d starve without help. This is the secondary kitchen — somewhere to get a snack without constantly getting in someone’s way.”

“Fancy.” Catra finishes the banana, finding a trashcan to toss the peel in. Glimmer immediately hands her something that looks similar to the bread rolls from yesterday. “What—?”

“Blueberry muffin. Don’t eat the paper wrapping.”

“Ha. Ha.” Catra takes a cautious nibble. Damn it, it’s good.

“I guess snacking isn’t a big thing with the Horde?”

Catra snorts. “No. You don’t get to eat at all if you fuck something up. Adora and I used to steal ration bars from the kitchen and keep them in the ceiling in case one of us didn’t get to eat. Kyle’s too scrawny, he can’t afford to miss a meal.”

She doesn’t catch the sad look Glimmer gives her. “Did… that ever happen to you?”

“What, not getting food? Yeah, all the time. Shadow Weaver would come up with the stupidest reasons to ban me from eating, but the force captains did it a lot too if they didn’t like how I was acting during training or whatever.”

Glimmer isn’t sure what to say. Instead, she hands Catra more food.

They walk to the war room, blessedly. Glimmer says Catra needs to learn how to get around the castle on her own, but Catra knows the princess is just taking pity. Which is fine. If it involves not teleporting, Catra will live with it.

Bow is already there when they arrive. He grins, waving. “Hey guys!”

“You’re all morning people around here, aren’t you?” Catra grumbles as she follows to sit and slumps on the table.

“What, did you not get up at the crack of dawn with the Horde?” Bow asks, raising an eyebrow. Glimmer is busy greeting what Catra assumes are two other princesses.

“Yeah, but shrieking alarms are easier to deal with than happy people. So when does everyone else get here?”

“Um, well.” Glimmer grimaces. “It’s just us and Mom.”

“Seriously?” Catra raises her head. “Five people is the entire rebellion?”

“And some castle guards, yeah. There used to be more, but the rebellion lost a really big battle and everyone kind of… broke apart and went into their own kingdoms.”

Catra rests her chin in her hand, frowning. “So there’s a bunch of kingdoms fighting one kingdom and no one’s thought ‘hey maybe if we team up again we can beat them?’”

“I have, a lot,” Glimmer says. “But Mom won’t let me—”

“Won’t let you what? Try to single-handedly fight the entire Horde?” They look over their shoulders to see Angella walking in with palace guard general.

“Won’t let me try to reform the Princess Alliance,” Glimmer finishes pointedly. “Most of the original members have stepped down, and the new princesses are just continuing what their parents did, but I think they could be convinced to join, and if they did it would be a huge advantage for us—”

“We’ve already discussed this, Glimmer.”

Glimmer sighs, exasperated, and rests her arms on the table. “Why do we even _have_ these meetings if we’re not going to talk about anything new?”

“It’s good to stay in contact with the allies we have.” The two princesses across the table wave again.

“At least _they’re_ out doing something,” Glimmer mutters. Catra is looking at the table, noticing various spots of what would be light if activated.

“Does this thing turn on?”

Everyone looks at her in surprise. “Yes,” Angella says finally, sounding a bit nonplussed. She nods to her general, who activates the table. It lights up in pink, showing the entire planet.

“Ooooh.” Catra stands to get a better look at it.

“ _That’s_ what you’re impressed by?” Glimmer asks. Catra doesn’t answer.

“Hey, so uh.” The white-haired, dark-skinned princess across the table raises her hand. “Who’s she, exactly?”

“Oh, right!” Glimmer perked up. “Netossa, Spinerella, this is Catra. She’s… um…”

“A charity case,” Catra says without looking up from the map. “Probably won’t be here long, don’t worry about it. That’s Plumeria, right?”

The sudden topic change causes whiplash. “Yes,” Angella says cautiously. “Why?”

“Horde soldiers have been complaining about a site near that kingdom. Apparently they can live in the Fright Zone, but they can’t deal with nature.”

Angella raises an eyebrow, looking at her general, who nods. “We’ve heard about a Horde encampment close to Plumeria,” she confirms. Glimmer looks excited.

“You know things! What else?”

“Hmm…”

Catra steps around the table, eyes scanning the map. “There an _old_ outpost here.” She traces an area far north with her pinky. “I don’t think it’s manned because no one wants to go there and freeze to death. But it’s not completely abandoned. And… here.” Tracing a place in the middle of the ocean. “Is supposedly where Beast Island is.” She shudders slightly. “No one’s ever really been clear if that’s _real_ or not, but the force captains love teasing the younger cadets with scary stories. It’s where the Horde sends people as punishment. That or the Crimson Waste. They’re both pretty terrible.”

“You know a lot.” Netossa sounds impressed.

“I pay a lot of attention. There’s an outpost out near Salineas — that one _is_ manned, but it’s at least a hundred miles out. No one wants to mess with that place. Too much water. The Horde has no advantage.”

Glimmer is practically bouncing. “Mom, we could—”

“We are not attacking the Horde outpost near Salineas,” Angella says, sighing. “This _is_ good information, though. Thank you, Catra.”

Catra hums, still eyeing the map. She’s never gotten to be part of any actual planning, of course. But she heard a lot around the forge (mostly when she was hanging out in the vent system and no one knew she was there), and the map of outposts wasn’t too hard to get. She had spent a lot of time studying it, trying to prove that she was good for more than hitting things. A lot of good that had done.

Seems to be serving her well here, though.

* * *

It feels weird _not_ going to morning drills. Instead Adora spends the morning in Force Captain Orientation, furiously scribbling notes and only half paying attention as her mind turns over more important things.

“Are there any questions?”

 _Yeah, can I_ go _now?_ Adora thinks, annoyed. Something unseen answers Adora’s prayers; they’re dismissed, and the blonde bolts. She needs to punch something.

“Can’t believe _Catra_ would be the one to turn on us.”

Adora freezes as she opens the door to the locker room. Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio are at their lockers, unloading their gear. “Didn’t think she had the spine,” Lonnie continues, laughing. “She’s all talk.”

“Catra did _not_ betray us,” Adora snaps. The trio jumps, looking back at her.

“Adora!” Lonnie says, surprised. “Er, Force Captain, I mean—”

“You know I don’t care the formalities, Lonnie.” Adora fully steps in, closing the door. “You _should_ know better than to badmouth your squadmates, though.”

Lonnie scowls slightly. “Former squadmate. Catra’s gone, remember?”

“She’s coming back. The princesses have done something to her,” Adora says fiercely. “It’s not her fault.”

“It’s not like she ever really _cared_ about being here, either,” Lonnie shoots back. “I know she’s your friend—”

“That has nothing to do with it. She’s coming back.” She had to come back.

“Sure,” Lonnie says uncertainly, turning away. “Okay, Adora.”

Adora scowls, going to the training room in the back. She has a date with a punching bag. Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio exchange looks.

“Do you think she’s going to be okay?”

“Probably not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the questions:
> 
> 1) Why is Angella nicer to Catra than she was Adora?  
> *No offense to Adora, but Catra was right - she's a people pleaser. And she went a little over the top with trying to get on Angella's good side. It was only when she started acting more like herself that Angella started loosen up. Catra has a much blunter response, and while her honesty may not be nice, it proves that she isn't putting an act on for anyone.
> 
> 2) Why is Angella an exposition machine?  
> *Well, partially because I needed to get the story onscreen, but also because Angella is very, very old, and it makes sense that she would know things like this, even if they were just rumors. Plus, it's canon that Angella knows a lot about First One tech (Bow says as much in the second episode), so it follows that she would know about the sword and the mask, since they're connected.
> 
> 3) Hey so about that history between the First Ones and the magicats...  
> *The First Ones are a bunch of liars, and the ones who got to write the history. Any holes you notice in these stories are intentional because there are important bits and pieces of the story missing.
> 
> 4) How is Catra better at this than Adora?  
> *Again, partially because Adora tries too hard, but also because they're just different people. Catra knows how to read people and read a room. She would pay attention and not sit in the chair that looks different and more special than the others because she's always had to be aware of power structures and the subtle signs of it.
> 
> Don't worry, she messes up in all her own ways. She's not perfect.
> 
> 5) So are you skipping Plumeria?  
> *Nah, just messing with the timeline a bit. Plumeria is the next chapter.
> 
> 6) How come Catra doesn't get visions when she touches the sword the way Adora did the first time?  
> *Sort of spoilers, but you can see it if you read between the lines.
> 
> 7) No Razz?  
> *Madame Razz shows up when Madame Razz is needed. She'll come shuffling along eventually.
> 
> ***Any other non-plot related questions? Feel free to ask! I really do love talking about my work lol***


	4. A Chance To Be Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Your majesty.” She jumps down from the rafters, greeting the queen with a little more respect than Angella would have expected. “I don’t mean to intrude, I know it’s late…”_
> 
> _“No, no.” Angella sighs, looking up at the mural. “This is my husband, Micah. Glimmer’s father. We lost him many years ago during a battle with the Horde.”_
> 
> _“Oh.” Catra’s ears fall slightly. “I’m sorry.”_
> 
> _And she is. It’s war, and people die, but that doesn’t make it any better. “He was a good man,” the queen continues, almost speaking to herself. Catra just barely hears her. “He always said he wanted to die fighting, and he got his wish.”_
> 
> _“That’s dumb,” Catra says without thinking. Angella gives her a hard look, raising an eyebrow._
> 
> _“Excuse me?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck at chapter summaries, so I'm just going to start highlighting my favorite sections at the beginning. Angella and Catra is a satisfying dynamic to write.

If someone had told Glimmer that the most likely place to find their new resident would be the library, she never would have believed it.

But here she is, another morning where she finds Catra asleep in the library rather than her bedroom. Glimmer creeps over to the sleeping girl, pokes her once, then immediately teleports away as Catra reflexively lashes out.

“I hope we never have to share a bed. Good morning!”

Catra yawns, scrubbing the sleep from her eyes. “It’s morning?”

“ _Yes_.” Glimmer shakes her head, giggling. “What are you even reading? You know you can take books back to your room, right? You don’t have to hide in here all the time.”

“I don’t hide,” Catra says defensively. Glimmer bites down another laugh.

“Are you afraid people are going to think you’re a nerd because they see you with a book?”

“Shut up!” Glimmer catches the book that’s thrown at her face. It’s surprisingly easy to wind Catra up.

It’s a history book, Glimmer realizes as she checks the cover. She walks over to the table, checking the books surrounding Catra. All history, all focused on different aspects of Etheria. “Quit judging me,” Catra grumbles, snatching the book back. She gathers the rest up and starts putting them away.

“I’m not judging — I’m not!” she protests when Catra snorts. “I’m just… surprised. You don’t seem like the learning type.”

“I’m not,” Catra says. “I mean… I guess I am a little. I get bored with doing the same thing over and over, so sometimes I have to find new things on my own.” She shrugs. “Everyone thinks I’m dumb.”

“I don’t—” Catra raises an eyebrow at Glimmer. “I don’t think you’re _dumb_ ,” she doubled down. “I just thought most Horde soldiers would be punch first, ask questions later.”

“It varies. There are always different types people. And not everyone can afford to take the risk of surviving by punching. Sometimes you have to know when to hang back, watch, and find the easiest way through.”

She finishes putting the books away, and they start out of the library. Catra is still trying to avoid teleporting. Glimmer swears she’ll get used to it if she just does it enough. Catra doesn’t really believe that.

It’s been four days. Catra still feels a bit disconnected from herself, still half expecting to wake up back in the Fright Zone, at the bottom of Adora’s bunk.

 _You’d be alone_ , a voice in the back of her head reminds her. _Adora gets her own quarters now. She’s probably forgotten you exist._

Right. Catra sighs inwardly. She had tried to believe that Adora wouldn’t… _really_ abandon her. But Adora has _always_ been better than her. Shadow Weaver got a sick joy out of reminding Catra of that. Adora has always been the one destined for greater things. And greater things need greater people than the _little mongrel_.

“Come on, Sparkles. What do you do for _fun_ around here?”

* * *

Adora sighs, watching the junior cadets run around awkwardly, swinging their staffs like they’ve never held a stick before. She isn’t even sure where to start with them.

_Were we this bad?_

No way. There’s just no way they could have been so terrible. Adora distinctly remembers beating the others down with her staff. Lonnie and Catra were nearly equal in hand-to-hand combat (although Catra won out in the end). Rogelio was a tank. And Kyle… was Kyle. Perfectly nice, but needs to transfer to maintenance or factory work as soon as possible.

Adora feels like she’s watching an entire squad of Kyles.

“Okay, hey, let’s stop for a minute…”

She gently runs them through some basic stances, reminding them not to tense up or shuffle their feet too much. It’s hard not to back away when something attacks you. She knows that. But they have to learn.

The training session ends. Adora watches the cadets hurry out, laughing and pushing each other around a bit. They had been like that. Adora, Catra, Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio. Once, when they were really young. Before training and competition and expectation had made Lonnie hard and Catra angry and Adora responsible for everything. Rogelio had been as scrawny as Kyle before he woke up one day and was larger than a tree. The same growth spurt had never really hit Kyle. He’d just gotten taller, which made his skinniness stand out. Rogelio could probably break him in half.

Before _all_ of that, though, they had just been kids. Kids who messed around and laughed and played pranks on each other and existed.

 _Like Catra wasn’t angry even back then_ , a bitter voice reminds Adora. It sounds suspiciously like Shadow Weaver. _She’s always been angry_.

That’s not true, Adora admonishes herself. She had attacked Lonnie once, yes, but she’d just been upset. She’s always been a little afraid that Adora would leave her for something “better.”

Ironic, considering how things have turned out.

No. It’s not Catra’s fault. That princess and her archer friend had done something to Catra. Adora needs to focus on finding a way to save her. Everything would be okay once Catra was back.

Adora repeats that to herself as the senior cadets start lining up for their morning training. Everything will be okay.

* * *

Catra can’t sleep.

Insomnia is an old friend, and apparently saw fit to follow her to Bright Moon. She had tried curling up in that ridiculous bed after two hours of trying to sleep in the window nook. And when that had failed her, she had taken to the halls.

More accurately, she’s jumping across beams high above the halls, watching the ground below her with some interest. From the surface, the palace basically looks the same. An aerial view is much better for learning the halls faster — and maybe she can escape having to teleport. Glimmer doesn’t seem to understand how her feet work. It’s amazing she can walk at all given the blink-and-miss-it way she teleports around.

Catra is much more in her element exploring on her own terms, in her own way. It’s like she told Glimmer before — she likes learning. As long as she can set the parameters.

She swings around a pole, up to another beam — and immediately halts when she realizes she’s walked in on something very personal. Queen Angella is standing in the hall, looking up at a mural like a woman standing in front of a grave. Catra knows she should go. But what if the queen already knows she’s there and is waiting for her to make herself known? That seems like the kind of messed up head game Shadow Weaver would play.

Might as well take the chance.

“Your majesty.” She jumps down from the rafters, greeting the queen with a little more respect than Angella would have expected. “I don’t mean to intrude, I know it’s late…”

“No, no.” Angella sighs, looking up at the mural. “This is my husband, Micah. Glimmer’s father. We lost him many years ago during a battle with the Horde.”

“Oh.” Catra’s ears fall slightly. “I’m sorry.”

And she is. It’s war, and people die, but that doesn’t make it any better. “He was a good man,” the queen continues, almost speaking to herself. Catra just barely hears her. “He always said he wanted to die fighting, and he got his wish.”

“That’s dumb,” Catra says without thinking. Angella gives her a hard look, raising an eyebrow.

“Excuse me?”

“Um, I’m… I mean, you shouldn’t talk about wanting to die in battle. Or dying at all. What’s the point of anything if you’re already planning how you want to go out?” She swallows, trying to fight down some of the building nerves. “I’m not saying it would’ve saved him to _not_ say it, but I’ve always thought being willing to die for a cause was useless. I don’t want to go into a fight thinking ‘if I die, it’s okay.’ I want to think about the people I love and getting home.” She pauses for a minute. “Not that I have any of those things at the moment.”

Angella looks her up and down. Catra’s heart jumps, her mind whirling, remembering all those long, silent moments before Shadow Weaver would punish her. And she’s just pissed off someone way stronger than that witch. She flinches, but resists the urge to back away. Running always makes it worse.

“You’re tense.” It’s an observation, rather than an accusation.

“N-No, ma’am.” Damn it, her voice cracked. “I’m fine.”

The queens looks her over once more, and her expression softens. “I appreciate your candor, Catra.” Not exactly what Catra is expecting. “I’ve found as queen that people are usually unwilling to express their full opinion to me. My daughter, of course, being an exception,” she adds dryly. “And even she draws the line at certain points.” She sighs. “I’ll admit, I do agree with your mindset. I always told Micah to focus on coming home, to think of his family. And that’s not to say he was selfish — if anything, he gave too much of himself. It was one of the things I loved about him, but also hated.”

“I know that feeling,” Catra mutters without thinking. Angella smiles slightly, looking bemused.

“Do you have someone in your life?”

“Wha — no!” Her voice rings through the halls. She clears her throat and tries again. “She’s not… she’s a friend. My best friend. We’ve known each other our entire lives. All she’s ever cared about is making other people happy. Shadow Weaver knew that, too. She took advantage of it all the time. But what’s the point of sacrificing yourself for everyone else’s happiness if _you’re_ what makes them happy?”

Another moment of silence. “Do you think I’m going to hurt you for speaking your mind?” Angella finally asks. Catra tries to bite down a grimace.

“That’s usually how this works, yeah.”

The queen nods slowly. “I assure you, no one will punish you for speaking your mind here. Even if they don’t agree with what you’re saying.”

That sounds like a trap. “Okay,” Catra says simply, looking up at the mural again.

“Catra?” She looks back at Angella. “Glimmer trusts you. You’ve obviously done something to earn that trust. I ask that you not let her down.”

“I’m… gonna be honest, your majesty, screwing up and letting people down is basically what I do.”

“In the Horde, perhaps. But you have a chance to be better here.”

 _Use it_. The words are unspoken, but clear. Catra nods once. “I’ll try.”

She’s surprised to find that she means it.

* * *

“I’m just saying, we know about this base, and it’s probably going to hurt Plumeria. We should hit them now while we can!”

“Glimmer.” Angella sighs. “We’re not attacking a Horde base.”

“I’m also not entirely sure what the base is for,” Catra points out. “They could be using it for anything from a simple occupation to actively taking Plumeria down. So who knows how staffed it is.”

“But Plumeria still needs help!” Glimmer insists. “They live off the land, and the Horde’s going to ruin it. _Plus_ , this would be a good chance to—”

“Establish a line of communication with Princess Perfuma to try and bring the Princess Alliance back together?” Glimmer pouted, glaring at the table. “You’re right about one thing, though. Plumeria could very well be in trouble if we allow this to continue.” Glimmer immediately perks up. “We can provide them with food and supplies. Humanitarian aid _only_.”

“ _Mom_.”

“You may pick your own team for this mission.”

Glimmer scowls, looking at Bow, who shoots her a thumbs up. Then she looks at Catra, who shrugs. “Sure. Why not.”

* * *

Plumeria is everything Catra’s allergies are terrified of. Pollen tickles her nose; she sneezes, trying to shake it off. “Is that your _sneeze_?” Bow gasps, nearly running his cart of supplies into a tree. “It’s adorable!”

“Watch it, Arrow Boy. I’m not above running you over.”

“Guys, please?” Glimmer begs. “This is the first time Mom’s let me lead anything since… let’s just get this right, okay?”

“As long as _you_ remember that getting it right involves not fighting the Horde,” Bow says pointedly.

“ _Yeah_ , I know… I’m going ahead to talk to Perfuma.”

She disappears without another word. “ _Perfuma_.” Catra rolls her eyes slightly. “What a name. You ever met her?”

“No, but I’ve heard she’s really nice. Plumeria is all about peace and love.”

Catra makes a face, then sneezes again. “Aaawww—”

“I will throw you off a cliff, I swear.”

The vibrant plants begin to die out as they get closer to the village. “Things dying is never a sign of anything good,” Catra mutters, looking around warily. At least she’s stopped sneezing.

Glimmer is talking to a tall young woman with blonde hair that goes all the way down her back, and a flower clown. Princess Perfuma, Catra can only assume. The princess lights up when she sees the carts and the people pushing them.

“It’s really so nice of Bright Moon to send help. Oh, here!”

A flower crown appears on Bow’s head, and a ring around Catra’s neck. “Ooooh, a crown!”

Catra rolls her eyes, taking in the drooping trees and dying plants, then looking back at the woman. “Seems like this place is in rough shape.”

“Hm? Oh, yes…” She sighs for a moment, looking around. “The blight hit when the Horde moved in. But we try not to dwell on the negatives. The Heart Blossom is still healthy, and that’s all that matters.”

She gestures to a large tree that does indeed look like it’s still alive. “Heart Blossom?”

“The runestone of our kingdom, and the source of my powers.” Perfuma smiles again. “We’ve lived in peace here for thousands of years. The universe has blessed us.”

“The universe dropped the Horde on your doorstep,” Catra says bluntly. “You should be more worried about that than flower crowns.”

“It will work out, as all things do.”

Catra’s lips twitch. “ _Right_.” She pulls the necklace off and tosses it over Bow’s head. “So do you have an actual plan of attack, or are you just going to strangle everyone with flower accessories?”

“Attack?” Perfuma pulls a confused face. “What do you mean?”

“You know, the Horde? That’s like ten miles away from here? Killing your land?”

“I make plants,” Perfuma says, holding up a hand to demonstrate. “That’s my power. There’s nothing we can do against the Horde. We just want to live peacefully in our ancestral home.”

“That’s going to be really hard when the Horde turns your home to dust.”

“Catra!” Glimmer groans, slapping her hand against her forehead. It had probably been stupid to think maybe Catra could try and play nice.

“We believe that the universe will right itself in the end,” Perfuma says in what’s probably the closest to an annoyed tone that she could manage.

“ _Sure_.” Catra scoffs, turning away. “You guys just hang out here and do your weird peace thing, then.”

“Where are you going?” Glimmer demands as Catra starts off into the woods.

“Checking on something. I’ll be back in a minute, don’t worry.”

She takes to the trees as soon as she has a chance, hopping from branch to branch until she’s close enough to the Horde camp. It’s a bit more established than she had thought… come to think of it, she can’t remember when she heard those soldiers talking about it. Ah well. Queen Sparkles wouldn’t allow fighting anyway.

“Some war,” Catra mutters, watching everyone below her. “No one is even trying.”

She settles in, eyes flicking about, tracking movement. Regular old Horde camp, from everything she can tell. Not that she’s ever seen one in person, but they had gone through a simulation of one once. And if the Horde can be depended on for one thing, it’s consistency. Or _routine_ , as Adora likes to call it.

 _Adora_. Catra’s ears fall slightly, shoulders dropping. She’s done her best not think about her friend, but that’s impossible sometimes. It’s not like there’s much else going on to occupy her attention. Seriously, _what_ is stopping Shadow Weaver and Hordak from just rolling over Bright Moon and calling it a day? They have an army. The Rebellion has like twenty people. Sure, the Whispering Woods are a problem, but they aren’t impossible to get through. She had done it with Bow and Glimmer, after all. And she had found that sword. Kind of. The sword had found her.

“Whoa.”

Catra nearly falls out of the tree when Glimmer appears next to her. “I’ve never seen a full encampment like this.”

“Could you, like, signal or something before you just appear?!” Catra hisses, shifting out of the awkward position she had taken to keep from falling. Glimmer ignores her.

“How does the Horde have so many soldiers, anyway?”

“I think the Fright Zone was a kingdom. Hordak just took over and turned all the citizens into soldiers. And Shadow Weaver kidnapped a bunch of kids or something.”

Glimmer looks at Catra, tilting her head. “Is that what happened to you?”

“Probably.” Catra shrugs. “I never really asked. Not that she would’ve told me.”

They fall silent for a moment, watching the army. “So are we really going to just leave them to the steamroll the peace and love people?” Catra finally asks.

“Mom said humanitarian only. No fighting.”

“And you’re satisfied with that?”

“No,” Glimmer admits. “But my last attempt to be a commander didn’t exactly work out.”

“What happened?”

“It was…” Glimmer sighs. “Stupid. The Horde was moving in on a town in the middle of nowhere — she sent me there just to keep me out of trouble — and we had a standing order to evacuate if anything happened. I wasn’t okay with it, so I fought. And we lost.”

“And you’re going to let one bad fight stop you from ever trying again?” Catra snorts. “You’re just like Princess Flower Power.”

Glimmer scowls. “It’s not my choice — you can’t just do whatever you want in the Horde, can you?”

“No. But sometimes constructive rebellion is necessary for opening pathways to more things.” Glimmer raises an eyebrow. Catra sighs. “Do you know why I spend so much time in the library?”

“Not a clue.”

“It’s because I actually _enjoy_ learning new things. Adora was always the best fighter in our squad, but I can hold my own and take someone out. All they did for years was run us through the same stupid battle sims, over and over and over. It was _boring_. When I complained, everyone just thought I was being lazy.”

“So what did you do?”

“I started skipping training and breaking into the sim room.”

“And that accomplished something?”

“It did for me. I taught myself how to be quiet, how to be stealthy, how to catch someone off guard and take advantage of the opportunity. But the force captains and Shadow Weaver only saw me blowing off training and letting my squadmates do all the hard work. Which I actually did during our last session, but it was so boring. Take out this giant bot with an exaggerated scary picture of the Queen of Bright Moon on it, aaahhh.”

Catra rolls her eyes, leaning against the tree trunk. “Adora was the only one who took me seriously. She always swore when she made Force Captain that she’d try and change things and get people to listen to me.”

“Did she?”

“She got promoted the day before I left. I never had a chance to find out.” Catra stares vacantly at the camp, watching it without seeing anything. “So are you going to just let your mom dictate everything or are you going to find your own way of doing things?”

“It’s… different,” Glimmer insists. “Mom is…”

“Terrifying?” Catra supplies helpfully.

“No!” Glimmer pauses. “Maybe sometimes. She knows what she’s doing.”

Catra raises an eyebrow. “Sparkles, Imma be _real_ honest with you for a minute. If the Whispering Woods wasn’t protecting you, the Horde would level Bright Moon tomorrow. You guys have magic, and that’s great, but the Horde has numbers and real training. If they ever find a way to torch the woods, you’re screwed. Being supportive and passively helping people is great, but you’re gonna get slaughtered if it comes down to a real fight.”

Glimmer’s shoulders slump, her expression sad. “I know,” she admits. “That’s how it always goes. Mom just… gave up after Dad died. I’ve tried everything I can think of, but she never listens to me.”

“Have you tried not trying?” Glimmer raises an eyebrow. “Look, if you fight with your mother forever, you’re not going to get anywhere. So stop fighting with her, and start fighting the Horde like you want to be. What’s the worst she’ll actually do?”

Glimmer stares out at the base for a long moment. Catra can practically see the longing in her eyes. “What about you?” she asks after a minute, turning back to Catra. “What do you want to do?”

_“Glimmer trusts you. You’ve obviously done something to earn that trust. I ask that you not let her down.”_

The queen’s words echo in Catra’s mind. She’s never been able to live up to anything anyone wants her to be. She’s a failure, she’s a screw up, she’s useless—

 _“You have a chance to be better here_.”

She shoots Glimmer a grin. “What I do best. Screw things up.”

* * *

Glimmer sighs when she returns to Plumeria. Bow has been bestowed with a couple more flower accessories, and is telling stories to some excited children and Perfuma.

“Perfuma!” Glimmer hurries to the other princess. “Catra and I were checking out Horde base, we think we can take it down — I think — but we need help.”

“I already told you, there’s nothing we can do,” Perfuma says, standing. “We’re not soldiers. We just want peace.”

“And sometimes you have to fight for that!” Glimmer insists. “My power is _sparkles_ and I still make it work! Because I believe it’s worth _fighting_ for the things we want instead of waiting for universe to give them to me.

“And… listen,” she continues after a hesitant moment, “you might have noticed that Catra isn’t exactly the nicest person. But she’s fighting for you. She just ran off into that base to figure out what’s going on and how to stop it.”

“Wait, what?” Bow takes off his flower crown, standing. “Why would you let her do that?”

“Do you think she’d listen to me?” Glimmer retorts without looking away from Perfuma. “She wouldn’t be doing this if she didn’t see any point to it. She’s trying to help you. But she can only do that as much as you want to help yourselves.”

Perfuma looks at Glimmer, then back at her people. She’s responsible for protecting them. For so long, that’s always meant hiding from danger. Running away. Living here, in solitude. But that won’t be good enough forever. Possibly even for another week.

Where did that leave them?

* * *

Catra peeks out from behind a crate, watching the shift change. Whatever the Horde is doing, it has something to do with what’s in that building. They don’t just guard random armories.

_Okay. If I can get over there quietly and take them out, I — why is the ground shaking?_

The question is answered a moment later when giant roots burst out of the ground. No element of surprise, then. Element of chaos works, though. The sound of horns echoes through the air.

“I've always said the universe will repay the Horde one day.” Her ears twitch at the familiar voice. Perfuma. “Well, I guess that day is today!”

 _Damn. Didn’t know Princess Flower Power had it in her_.

“Hey!” Glimmer and Bow appear beside Catra, grinning. “What do you think?”

“Not exactly what I had in mind, but—” She cuts off as Perfuma continues to shout. “Do you think setting her loose was a good idea?”

“Probably not,” Glimmer admits. “But she’s having fun. So, what’s the plan?”

Catra turns back to the guarded door, confirming her belief when she sees the guards haven’t moved despite the attack. “Get over there and take those guys out. Do not!” Glimmer freezes mid-reach. “I need to be able to see straight. I can get there on my own, you wait for my signal, okay?”

“Got it,” Bow confirms with a nod, resting a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder. She looks a little put out, but nods. “What’s the signal?”

“You’ll know it when you see it, don’t worry.”

She springs off into the chaos, easily disappearing. “It’s only been a week and she’s already so good at teamwork.” Bow sounds like he’s about to cry.

“I don’t know if I would say _good_ —”

Catra jumps out suddenly, tackling one of the guards. “Signal!” Bow and Glimmer yelp together. They disappear and reappear beside the other other guard, Glimmer taking him out with a well-aimed, magic-filled punch.

“Not bad, Sparkles.” Catra shoots her a grin, unsheathing her claws and slicing through the door.

“Whoa,” Bow breathes when they see the machine towering over them. “What is _that_?”

“No clue, but if it’s injecting that green goop into the ground—” Catra pointed to the trio of glass canisters, “then it’s definitely what we’re looking for. Try to find a power source or something.”

“What, do you think we can just unplug it and fix everything?”

“No, but if we cut off its power it at least won’t be able to do any more damage.” She scales up the pipes and tubes, clambering atop the machine and looking around while Bow and Glimmer scour the ground around it.

There’s a loud hiss as the machine discharges, shaking the ground and knocking them all over. “What the _fuck_ —”

“The canisters are draining!” Bow calls. Catra crawls over to the edge to look down. _Fuck_.

“Uh… any exploding arrows, maybe?” she asks Bow weakly.

“If we blow it up, won’t we just send that stuff flying everywhere?” Damn it, Glimmer’s got her there.

“Shit, okay, shit.” She reels back, pressing a hand to her temple. _Think, think, think, think, think_ …

Her eyes flit about, then landed on her other hand, claws still out. She can rip it open. But then what? How is she going to fix any of this?

The mask glows as if in response to her panic; the sudden surety that fills her is weird, but she goes along with it anyway, raising her hand and tearing away part of the top.

The room fills with golden light, blinding Bow and Glimmer. Something in the air feels different when the light fades — like it’s buzzing. Alive.

“It’s magic!” Glimmer identifies it first, thrilled, and whirls to look out the door. Green energy is sweeping throughout the base, grass and plants blooming to life. Perfuma looks positively exhilarated as she raises a hand, and flowers begin wrapping around the soldiers. Glimmer and Bow exchange grins.

“She did it!”

They just barely hear the groan and light thump above them. Glimmer grabs Bow’s arm and teleports them to the top of the machine. Catra is pulling her arm out of the hole, grimacing. She rolls onto her back to look up at the people above her. “Hey.” She salutes them lazily, blinking to keep the world from spinning. “Did it work?”

“Yeah, it worked,” Glimmer assures her.

“What was _it_?” Bow adds.

“No clue. You guys figure it out.”

She closes her eyes with a sigh, letting unconsciousness take her away.

* * *

That _mongrel_ is the only person capable of invoking this kind of rage in Shadow Weaver.

She watches the security footage from the Plumeria base again, and again, and again, watching the burst of golden light and the magic that follows it. How has that brat of all people tapped into that kind of power?

Crimson energy flares to life around Shadow Weaver’s hand, and the screen explodes. Years. She had spent _years_ trying to pull the power out of that mask — the promised, unlimited power that it was imbued with — only to end up with a useless piece of junk and a disrespectful child who never learned her place. And _now_ she’s…

“Shadow Weaver?”

She smooths her temper away with a deep breath, turning to her prodigy. “Adora,” she says warmly. The girl smiles, still somehow so innocent. So oblivious.

Good. Shadow Weaver needs her to stay like this.

* * *

It’s dark when Catra opens her eyes again, although with the giant Runestone not twenty feet from her window, that’s not immediately obvious. Her arms feel a bit weak as she pushes herself up, looking around what she recognizes as her room at Bright Moon. She hasn’t actually slept here much, but she’s pretty sure her bed didn’t originally come with Glimmer and Bow sleeping at the end of it.

“They’ve been worried about you.”

Catra jumps, turning to see the queen standing in the door. “What happened?” she asks stupidly. She doesn’t entirely remember anything after Perfuma’s epic invasion of the base.

“You destroyed the machine poisoning Plumeria, restored magic to the land, drove out the Horde, and completely disobeyed my orders.” Angella’s trying to sound stern, but Catra can hear the undertone of amusement. “As such, you and Glimmer are both grounded.”

“Wha — you can’t ground me.”

“You live in my palace and are under my care. Therefore, I believe it’s in my power.”

Catra can’t tell if Angella is being sarcastic. Does it matter? No, she decides, flopping back on the bed. “Grounded, got it. Yes, ma’am.”


	5. The Sea Gate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Teleporting is almost tolerable after half a day of sea sickness. It still takes Catra a minute to orient herself, though, and that’s precious time; she just barely manages to keep Lonnie from tazing Glimmer, shoving the princess out of the way and grabbing her former squadmate, twisting her arm._
> 
> _“Do not start with this shit, Lonnie,” she half growls, grabbing the stun baton and shoving Lonnie away. “Glimmer, get back to the gate.”_
> 
> _“What?” Glimmer stares at her in disbelief. “I’m not leaving you here, you’re outnumbered!”_
> 
> _“Please, three of them can’t even touch me.” Catra breaks the baton over her knee for emphasis. “Go.” To Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio, “Where’s Adora?”_
> 
> _“Not exactly hiding, genius,” Adora calls from the top deck. Catra looks up at her, then back Glimmer, and nods. Glimmer disappears again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is Entrapta, then PRINCESS PROM which I am SO EXCITED about because that's where the major changes really start and it is EXCITING.
> 
> But, focusing on this chapter: who's ready for Adora and Catra reuniting?

“I’m going to die.”

“You are _not_.” Glimmer shoves Catra’s shoulder, and she groans. She hasn’t left the edge of the boat since they set off with their questionable expert sea captain. Catra’s already course corrected him twice and threatened to show him his heart if he made her spend any more time than what was absolutely necessary on this forsaken ship.

“Why am I _here_? You don’t need me for diplomatic stuff.”

“I’ve heard a lot about Princess Mermista,” Glimmer says, shrugging. “I think you two will get along.”

“I’m not being buddy-buddy with Princess Bubbles.”

“Princess Bubbles? Your nicknames are getting worse.”

The ship bucks slightly as a particularly strong wave hits it, and Catra tumbles back with a yelp. “Give me a damn break.” She drags herself up, resting on the edge of the boat once more. “Hey, Ocean Bird, how far are we from Salineas?”

“It’s _Seak Hawk_ ,” the captain corrects her, offended. “And there’s no telling how long these journeys will take or which way they’ll take us—”

“If it doesn’t take us to Salineas in an hour, I’m torching the boat.”

“Ignore her!” Glimmer calls with a nervous laugh, wrapping an arm around Catra and forcibly turning her away from Sea Hawk. “Why can’t you be _nice_?” she hisses.

“Because no one told me before I ate breakfast that we’d be on a boat,” Catra hisses back.

“Oh, come on, don’t tell me a little water is really all it takes to beat you.” The boat jumps again, and Catra groans, leaning harder on the edge. “Would it help if I teleport you home after all this?”

“Probably.”

Wow, she really _is_ sick if she’s agreeing to teleporting.

* * *

“Seaworthy?” Adora repeats, raising an eyebrow. “That’s pretty much all water.”

“As its name would imply, yes,” Shadow Weaver agrees.

“Catra _hates_ water. There’s no way she’s doing this willingly.”

Ah, the naivety. “Which is why this will be your best chance to rescue her, of course.” And get back the mask in the process. “You’ll be able to get her out of this horrid situation.”

Adora smiles, straightening up. “Right. I’ll get going now.”

“You can’t work a boat alone, Adora,” Shadow Weaver reminds her. “I’ve asked another Force Captain to help.”

“What? I really don’t need—”

Adora stops at the door, realizing someone is blocking her way. A large, white-haired lady with a red exoskeleton and pincers in place of hands. Adora’s brain has just enough time to supply her with the name — Scorpia, force captain and technically princess of the Fright Zone — before she’s being scooped into a bone-crushing hug.

“Hey! Adora, right? I’ve heard _great_ things about you.” Adora makes a noise, wiggling slightly in Scorpia’s arms. “Oh, right, sorry. I’m a hugger.”

The woman laughs, setting Adora down. She forces a weak smile. “It’s okay, maybe just… warn me next time.”

She really isn’t sure about this, but if Shadow Weaver thinks it’s a good idea, then who is she to question it?

* * *

Catra has just enough dignity to not get on her knees and kiss the ground. Barely. “Whoa.” Bow looks around, putting an absentminded hand on Catra’s back as she leans over, resting her hands on her knees. “Where is everyone?”

“Hmm.” Sea Hawk makes a definitely fake thinking noise. “Hmm...very odd, indeed. If I know the princess Mermista--and I-I do--something's amiss.”

A voice echoes in the air. “Halt!” They look around, seeing a guard running toward them. “Halt! Halt I say!”

“We’re… not moving,” Catra says helpfully, although not loud enough to be heard by the running man.

“Halt…” He gasps, finally coming to a stop in front of them. “What’s your business in Salineas?”

Glimmer steps up to talk. “We’ve come to speak with Princess Mermista—”

“Tell her Sea Hawk is with them!” Sea Hawk breaks in, shouldering Glimmer out of the way. Catra can practically here the fury in the princess’ mind. “She’ll be excited to see me.”

The water princess is decidedly _not_ excited to see the captain. “Ew,” Catra hears her groan, “who let _him_ back in here?”

“Princess!” Sea Hawk half-yells as he propels himself ahead of the group. “Oh, it's been too long. I have dreamed of you night and day since we parted.”

“Uh huh…” Mermista leans around him. “And who are you?”

Catra is already losing interest in the diplomatic thing. She lets Glimmer do her introduction and spiel, eyes wandering around the throne room. She had been unconscious for this part of the Plumeria trip, but apparently Perfuma had been very open to rebelhood. It’s going to be harder to sell it to Mermista, though.

She snaps out of her thoughts as Mermista gestures with her staff, dividing a waterfall and revealing a window. “It figures that I would inherit a kingdom that's crumbling, but it's totally fine, I'm… handling it.” Catra wonders what her definition of _handling_ is. “It's just kind of inconvenient because the Horde won't stop attacking us.”

“Kind of inconvenient is a good way to describe the Horde,” Catra says dryly, peeking out the window. The sea gate really is falling apart. Yikes. Mermista looks at her, eyebrow raised.

“They trying to break your kingdom, too?”

“Nah, I just have history with them.” Catra smirks. “Buncha pains in the ass.”

Mermista half chuckles. “I think you were right,” Bow whispers to Glimmer, who smiles proudly.

“I had a feeling they’d get along.” She raises her voice to ask, “Why is the gate falling apart?”

“I mean, who knows.” Mermista shrugs. “But it's getting weaker everyday, and if the Horde tries to attack us again, we're pretty much dead.”

“The Horde is the reason we're here.” Finally, the sales pitch. “We want to rebuild the Princess Alliance. None of us stand a chance on our own, but we might be able to stop them together.”

Mermista walks back to her throne, scoffing. “Yeah, cause that went so great the first time. Why should I help Bright Moon? It's not like they've ever done anything to help us.”

“Well—” Catra takes a chance trying to speak, but of course Sea Hawk cuts her off.

“Mermista, if I may—”

“No,” she cuts him off firmly. “No more shanties.” She turns to Glimmer. “Why did you bring him here? He is so…” She gritted her teeth. “ _Annoying_.”

“I thought you said she liked you?” Bow whispers to Sea Hawk, who makes a show of examining the ceiling.

“We have a rich and complicated past.”

If by that you mean you got us kicked out of the Dolphin Social for challenging the doorman to a duel,” Mermista sits, glaring at him, “then sure.”

Catra watches, slightly impressed, as the captain casually hops into Mermista’s lap. “I don’t recall doing that.”

“And that time that you set our gondola on fire in the Tunnel of _Love_?” She emphasizes the last word by shoving him out of her lap.

“Oooh.” Sea Hawk straightens up, chuckling. “That I _do_ remember.”

Catra wants to ask what they were doing in the Tunnel of Love in the first place, but she’s distracted by a mural on the wall. Specifically, the weird lines and dots that surround the mural. She approaches is, tilting her head. Is that… writing?

“Hey, what’s this?” she calls, cutting off whatever Sea Hawk is saying.

“Some kind of mural about the Sea Gate, I dunno.” Mermista pushes Sea Hawk away again. “It’s been here for as long as Salineas has existed. No one even knows what the writing says.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s First One’s writing,” Bow says, walking over. “Remind me when we get home, I have some books about that you might like.”

“Okay, but what do you mean no one knows what it says?”

“It’s a dead language?” Mermista raises an eyebrow. “As in, the only people who can translate it are dead?”

Catra looks at her, then at Bow, then back at the wall. “I can read it.”

“What?” Several voices speak at the same time, echoing around the throne room. Catra makes a face, scanning the room again.

“Is this a joke? _None_ of you can read it?”

Glimmer teleports to stand next to Catra, excited. “What does it say?”

Catra makes a noise, looking back up at the mural. “Something about the gate getting its power from Salinean Runestone… the gate might be failing because it’s losing its connection to the power source.”

“Do you think you could fix it?” Glimmer asks. “Like you fixed Plumeria?”

“Sparkles, I _barely_ remember doing that.”

“But you did it once, so you can do it again in theory.”

Catra’s shoulders hunch. That’s a lot of responsibility and a _lot_ of trust they’re putting in her accidentally healing Plumeria when she destroyed the machine. “I guess…”

Glimmer turns back to Mermista, determined. “Look, Mermista. You need our help, and we need yours. If Catra can repair your gate, will you consider joining us? Please?”

Mermista groans as if this is the biggest inconvenience in the world. Catra can relate. “I don’t know. I _guess_ …” She points at Sea Hawk. “But _he_ has to leave.”

Ouch. Even Catra feels a little bad when she sees Sea Hawk deflate. “But… where am I supposed to go?”

Bow steps in to comfort him, leading him to the door. “Maybe wait with the boat, okay, buddy? We'll take care of the gate.”

* * *

Catra is _definitely_ in over her head.

“I _really_ hope you know what you’re doing,” Mermista says, looking at Catra.

“Same,” she agrees, closing her eyes. What had she been thinking in Plumeria? Aside from repeatedly cursing and thinking about how she _couldn’t do anything_ …

“Maybe the sword could help?” Glimmer suggests. “I can hop back to Bright Moon and—”

“No, I don’t need the stupid sword. I’ll… figure it out.”

She takes a deep breath, reaching a hand out toward the gate. “Whoa,” she hears Mermista say in honest surprise, and dares to open her eyes again. She can see the mask glowing.

“You got this,” Bow whispers, barely containing his excitement. The gate begins to glow as well, thrumming with energy, and Catra can already tell she’s going to be unconscious for _this_ trip home as well.

 _I really hate this_.

* * *

“Ready?” Adora calls to Scorpia, who’s charging the cannon. Her partner for this trip is… exasperating, but she knows how to follow orders. They’re getting through that gate, taking this place down, and bringing Catra home.

There’s no room for mistakes.

“On your order,” Scorpia calls back. Adora nods.

“Go.”

Catra barely has time to register Bow saying _Horde_ before the blast hits the gate; she yells as the back charge runs through her, bringing her to her knees. It’s almost as bad as Shadow Weaver’s worst punishments.

“You gotta be kidding,” she mutters, raising her head to look at the boat. Even an idiot can figure out who’s leading _this_ mission. “Glimmer!” she calls down to the princess, who’s on Sea Hawk’s boat with him. “Need a ride.”

“What about the gate?” Bow asks.

“I’ll fix it after.” She could just make out three familiar figures on deck. “Just let me talk to her.”

“Ready?” Glimmer asks as she appears behind Catra.

“No. Let’s go.”

Teleporting is almost tolerable after half a day of sea sickness. It still takes Catra a minute to orient herself, though, and that’s precious time; she just barely manages to keep Lonnie from tazing Glimmer, shoving the princess out of the way and grabbing her former squadmate, twisting her arm.

“Do _not_ start with this shit, Lonnie,” she half growls, grabbing the stun baton and shoving Lonnie away. “Glimmer, get back to the gate.”

“What?” Glimmer stares at her in disbelief. “I’m not leaving you here. You’re outnumbered!”

“Please, three of them can’t even touch me.” Catra breaks the baton over her knee for emphasis. “Go.” To Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio, “Where’s Adora?”

“Not exactly hiding, genius,” Adora calls from the top deck. Catra looks up at her, then back Glimmer, and nods. Glimmer disappears again.

“Call off the attack, Adora. We don’t have to do this.”

“Are you coming home with me?”

Catra scowls. “You _know_ I can’t. What’s Shadow Weaver going to do if she gets her hands on me?”

“She just wants to help—”

“For fuck’s sake, are you _really_ this stupid?!” Catra tries to keep her temper in check, but fails. She _knows_ Adora is smarter than this. How is she so blind when it comes to Shadow Weaver? “And Kyle, if you take one more step, I’m tossing you into the ocean.”

Kyle freezes, eyes wide. She’s not even looking at him. “You’re helping _princesses_!” Adora yells. “How do you think that’s right?”

“How do _you_ think Shadow Weaver is right after everything she’s done?!” Catra shoots back. “How could you even _think_ about bringing me back to her?!”

A loud tearing noise interrupts the conversation; everyone looks around to see Bow tearing through the sail as he propels down on a rope, then lands on the deck. “I told you to let me handle it!”

“You didn’t mention that meant staying here _alone_.” He emphasizes the point by knocking an arrow in place and firing it, pinning Kyle to the wall by his shirt.

“Seriously Kyle…” Catra sighs, but there’s no time to think about it. Rogelio and Lonnie are both moving in to attack, forcing Catra and Bow to stand back to back. “One more chance, Adora. Call it off.”

Adora looks torn for a moment before her expression hardens. “It’s for your own good.”

Rogelio and Lonnie both lunge, forcing Bow and Catra to separate. Catra goes at Rogelio, opting to blind him rather than try to attack. She hits his face and balances precariously on all fours for a moment before launching herself off again, landing near Bow, who’s dodging Lonnie.

“Rogelio’s a tank, don’t even bother. Lonnie busted her right leg when we were eight and it didn’t heal right. Take her out.”

Lonnie scowled, glaring daggers at the girl. “Go to hell, Catra.”

“Already there.”

“I got this,” Bow assures Catra. She smiles, running and using as Rogelio as a jumping board again, this time to propel herself up to Adora.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” the blonde says, taking a step back.

“Then don’t. Call the others off and we can talk.”

“I’m _trying_ to talk. You’re the one being irrational.”

“ _I’m_ being—?” Catra scoffs. “Okay, now I _have_ to punch you.”

Adora pulls her staff, and Catra ducks, dodging around Adora and going at her from the side, punching her cheek. They’re both a little shocked at that. The boat rocks as Mermista attacks, reminding Catra that they’re… on a boat.

“I hate water,” she grumbles as she dives in, grabbing Adora’s staff. Adora grunts, trying to throw her off.

“You turned on the Horde, you’re fighting your friends, you’re helping the enemy, and you think _I’m_ the one who’s wrong?” Catra loses her grip as Adora shoves her back, getting control of her staff again. Catra hits the deck, then dodges as Adora tries to knock her out.

“We’ve _never_ been the good guys!” Catra lands on the edge of the boat, balancing on her hands and feet. “Hordak and Shadow Weaver don’t care about the world, and they sure as hell don’t care about _us_!”

She jumps as Adora swings again, landing behind her. “Use your head, Adora! _You’re_ the one launching an attack!”

“I’m _trying_ to save you!”

“ _I don’t need you to save me_!”

Catra isn’t sure where the burst of energy comes from; but suddenly she’s bolting forward, claws out, slicing through staff and shoving Adora back. A yell distracts her; she whirls to see the woman who had been working the cannon grabbing Bow, then tossing him over the edge of the boat.

“Bow!”

Adora recovers, tackling Catra to the ground, bending her arm back and pressing her head against the ground.

“Just let us help you, Catra. Please.”

It really is amazing how deeply she believes in the Horde. And a little sad. “Is this your idea of _help_ , Adora?” she grits out. They’re interrupted by a burst of water slamming into Adora, knocking her back. Catra looks up to see Mermista arcing over them, landing in the water on the other side of the boat.

 _Nice_.

Catra looks at Adora, who’s sputtering and shaking her head, then down at the cannon. Lonnie (who’s definitely limping a little) and Kyle are trying to aim and fire it again.

“Sorry, Adora. We’ll have to do this another time.”

She jumps down to the cannon, claws slicing cleanly through the barrel and then a couple of thick wires, just in case. She jumps again, landing on the edge of the boat as the cannon explodes, knocking Lonnie and Kyle back. “Screw you, Catra,” Lonnie snarls.

“Same, Lonnie.” She looks back to see Sea Hawk’s boat, and smirks. “See ya.”

The backflip off the Horde boat and neat landing on Sea Hawk’s _probably_ isn’t necessary. But sometimes, Catra has to show off. “I took out the cannon but that’s probably not the only one they’ve got. Any plans for taking out the boat?”

“I’ve got one,” Glimmer says with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “But we can _not_ tell my mom. Sea Hawk, I need you to do what you do best.”

“What’s that?”

“Set the boat on _fire_.”

He looks far too excited by that prospect. Mermista dives back into the water while Glimmer teleports Catra and Bow back to the rock in front of the sea gate, then returns to Sea Hawk. “They’ve got that handled,” Catra says, turning back to the sea gate and holding out her hand again. It’s surprisingly easy to summon the energy this time; the gate glows bright, and for a moment, Catra is lost in her own world. Lost to the thrum of power as it connects with gate, feeding into it, strengthening it. _Fixing it_.

She’s not sure when she collapses to her knees. Or when she blacks out.

* * *

“She really did it, huh?”

“Yeah. She accidentally does things right sometimes. It’s useful.”

“Making fun of someone you think is unconscious is rude,” Catra mumbles, forcing her eyes open. They’re still in Salineas, on the shore, looking up at the sea gate. Her head is in Glimmer’s lap. “Did it work?”

“Yeah, it worked.” Glimmer grins down at her. “Look at you, being a hero.”

Catra blushes, pushing herself up and rubbing her head. Mermista looks at Sea Hawk, raising an eyebrow.

“I guess you’re gonna be needing a new ship?” She sighs, gesturing a hand behind her. “I suppose you can have one of mine…”

They all turn to see a new boat waiting for Sea Hawk. The guard breaks a bottle on the side to christen it; Sea Hawk whimpers.

“She’s gorgeous…”

“ _Don’t_ set it on fire,” Mermista said firmly.

“No promises. But, Princess…” He takes Mermista’s hand and kneels. “If I might ask for one more favor.”

“You’re always ruining it,” Mermista groans. Sea Hawk stands, reaching for Glimmer.

“You should think about joining Glimmer's Princess Alliance.” He put a hand to his chest. “She is a brave and strong captain. With her at the helm, she is sure to lead the Rebellion to victory.”

Glimmer blushes, looking pleased. “Aw, Sea Hawk… you even got my name right.”

“Okay,” Mermista says, surprising them all. “I’m in.”

“Really?”

Yeah. The Horde almost destroyed my home. I wanna help fight them.” Her eyes fall on Catra. “Also, I dunno what she is, but she seems pretty useful.”

Glimmer grins, hugging Catra tight. “Ack, careful, Adora tossed me around…”

“Oh, right. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Catra looks out at the sea. “I’m fine.”

* * *

Adora finishes toweling her hair dry and collapses into bed, sighing heavily. She hadn’t realized the Rebellion had such solid mind-washing techniques.

 _Or maybe they don’t. Maybe Catra decided to leave on her own_.

No. Adora refuses to consider that. Catra wouldn’t abandon them. Abandon _her_. She’s in trouble.

And Adora _will_ save her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions, in case anyone is wondering:
> 
> -Why is this coming so easily for Catra? And how come she doesn't need the sword?  
> It's not, really. Adora had her own struggles and growing pains, and so does Catra (they just manifest a little differently, i.e. her passing out every time she overdoes it).
> 
> As for the sword.... largely spoilers, but the simple answer is that the mask acts as another conduit for magic. The sword allows her to tap into She-Ra's full powers, including transforming, while the mask lets her borrow from She-Ra, so to speak. (The sword and mask thing get more attention later on and also get way more complicated before anything actually makes sense sooooooooooo).
> 
> -Adora isn't _really_ this gullible.  
> No, she's not, but she's also approaching things completely differently here than she did in canon. She spent time with Bow and Glimmer, she saw a destroyed village before Thaymor, and she spent time in Thaymor learning more about the people before the Horde attacked, which helped her understand "Hey, these people are innocent, the Horde is kind of fucked up." She doesn't have the same perspective here - she's only ever seen things from the Horde's POV, and she can't imagine a world where Catra would betray her, so her mind is working overtime to make up excuses and fit the situation as she sees it. The rebellion is evil, they brainwashed Catra, Shadow Weaver will fix everything, etc.
> 
> (also, "fixing" things is one of Adora's main canon quirks as well. She gets very caught up in the idea that she can fix everything that's wrong (especially when it comes to Catra and the Horde), so it makes sense, in a reverse situation, that she would approach this as a situation where she needs to be the hero and save her friend. Same Adora, different circumstances).
> 
> So no, she's not gullible. She just has different experiences and is extremely loyal to Shadow Weaver (because of the abuse or despite it, who knows).


	6. Dryl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Catra looks at Entrapta for a moment. “So… how does the hair work?”_
> 
> “Huh?”
> 
> “You know the…” Catra makes a walking motion with her fingers. “Is it magic?”
> 
> “Oh, no, there’s nothing magical about me.” Entrapta laughs. “I’m just really smart.”
> 
> “Is… Is your _hair_ a robot?”
> 
> Glimmer reappears, looking panicked. “That was not such a great plan. The lab is very full of robots.”
> 
> “How did they look?” Entrapta asks, readying her recorder.
> 
> “Evil. I couldn't get anywhere near the disc.”
> 
> “I’m going to die,” Catra mutters, hiding her face in her knees.
> 
> “That’s… probably not true.”
> 
> Robots begin emerging form the shadows. “Okay, that’s probably true.” Glimmer grabs Catra’s arm and drags her up. “Run!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so the Dryl chapter is kind of dry - no offense to the episode at all, but it's largely Bow-centric and there was no point in rewriting any of the Bow parts since nothing would change, so I decided to update early and get to Princess Prom on Thursday which I am SO GOD DAMN EXCITED ABOUT.
> 
> Oh, and a quick note on the chapter count: It's at 13 right now because that's what season one shook out to be. I'm about halfway through writing season two, so I'll update when I know more or less where that's going to be shaking out (probably somewhere in the low twenties). After that... I'm still trying to work out some stuff re: season three and the portal, tbh, so there might be a small hiatus while I work on that and get chapters written ahead. But we'll see what happens when we get that far, lol.

Catra sighs, not for the first time on that journey, and looks up the path ahead of them. “Are we _there_ yet?”

“How old are you?” Glimmer asks, rolling her eyes. “We’re almost there. Trust me, Princess Entrapta is going to be a huge thing for the Alliance. My mom will be so impressed!”

“What’s so important about Entrapta?”

“She's a brilliant inventor,” Bow says excitedly. “ She makes robots and rehabs old tech left by the First Ones. She's a pretty big deal in the Etherian makers community. Which I am a part of, because I dabble in gadgetry myself.”

Catra raises an eyebrow. “I’m not _entirely_ sure what any of that means, but it all sounds super nerdy.”

“And if we convince Entrapta to join us, she’ll invent all sorts of cool junk for the Rebellion,” Glimmer adds happily. “And then we'll finally have weapons that can stand up to the Horde's.”

“Like my trick arrows!” Bow says, pulling a few of his arrows out to show off. “This is a stun arrow. This one is an emergency flare. And this one, this one’s just pointy. And here’s my newest.” He whipped it out with flourish, beaming. “Sonic arrow!”

“Wow,” Catra deadpans, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “Amazing.”

Glimmer is laughing. “When will we ever need a sonic arrow? If we have to wake up really early?”

Bow pouts, sliding the arrow back into his quiver. “I bet Entrapta will like my arrows.”

“Uh huh. Try not to trip over your ego while you’re showing off.” Catra looks ahead, and stops when she sees the a block in the path. “Well, that’s inconvenient.”

“Must have been a rock slide,” Bow said, examining the rocks.

“What was your first clue?”

Bow ignores Catra. “Any loud sound could cause another slide. We have to be very careful.”

Catra steps forward, tilting her head. “Eh, should be easy enough.” She jumps, scaling the pile of rocks, and looks around.

“What are you _doing_?”

“Thinking. Shush.”

Her masks glows bright for a moment, and Catra clenches her fist, driving straight through the middle of the pile. She jumps as it collapses, and the ground shakes for a moment before settling.

“Hey, I’m getting pretty good at this,” Catra says with a cocky smile. Glimmer laughs, hopping over the pile of rubble to join her.

“That was _extremely_ dangerous,” Bow pointed out, walking to join them. “You could’ve caused another avalanche.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t. What’s the big deal? We’re through, aren’t we?”

Bow gives her a frown. “Out of anyone, I would’ve thought you’d appreciate more what can be done without magic.”

“Come _on_ , Arrow Boy. You’re being too serious about this.” Catra turns to start walking again, her tail whipping up to lightly smack Bow’s nose. “And look, we’re almost there!” She gestures at the castle ahead of them just as lightning flashes overhead. “Yikes. And I thought the Fright Zone’s atmosphere was creepy.”

“She has lightning.” Bow’s slipped back into his fanboy mode. Glimmer narrows her eyes.

“Something’s wrong.”

She disappears, reappearing on a nearby wall, with a lit beacon. “The distress beacon is lit. They must be under attack.”

“Weird.” Catra looks around, raising an eyebrow. “There’s nothing about the Horde in the area.”

She starts forward again, heading up to the castle entrance. “Careful!” Bow grabs her by the tail right as she steps on a pressure plate, triggering a trap door that opened to spikes. Catra yelps, tumbling back, and yanks her tail out of his grip.

“You don’t just grab a person’s tail, you know!”

“I was _trying_ to stop you from falling into a trap!”

“Guys, come on.” Glimmer reappears next to them with a light admonishment. “We need to figure out what’s going on and find Entrapta.”

They step over the trap, heading into the castle. Something about the place made Catra’s fur itch. She rubs the back of her neck, looking around. “You okay?” Glimmer asks.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. This place is just a little… I dunno, off.” She shrugs. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Glimmer is about to argue, until she sees a mechanical arm crawling up her arm. “Ah!” She shrieks, waving it off.

“Okay, we need to be careful,” Bow says. “Entrapta has traps set up all over her castle.” He pauses. “They're supposed to be really cool.”

“Great, I’m glad the cool traps are going to kill us,” Catra says dryly, looking around. Her ears twitch. “Do you guys hear something?”

“We don’t have your hearing,” Glimmer reminds her. “What is it?”

“It sounds like machinery.” A very familiar sound, considering she heard it all the time around the forge. “Like…”

“They're coming.” They jump and look around, seeing a small figure peeking out from under a manhole. “Get out of the square.”

“Wait, who’s coming?” Glimmer asks, running forward. The figure closes the manhole. “Is it the Horde? Hey!”

“Uh, Glimmer?” Bow says slowly. “I think I can hear the noise now too.”

Glimmer raises her head, grimacing. “Uh, yeah. Maybe we should get away from whatever is making it.”

They step back, but it’s too late — a robot emerges from the shadows, coming at them. Bow draws an arrow and knocks it into place, letting loose. It takes out the robot with surprising ease.

“Looks like one of Entrapta’s designs,” Bow says uncertainly as he kneels to examine it. “Why would it attack us?”

Catra’s ears twitch again, her head snapping around as she backs up. “I dunno, but there’s more of them coming. We need to get out of here.”

“Yeah.” Glimmer steps forward, grabbing Catra’s shoulder. “Bow come—”

The slight hiss of a pressure plate distracts Catra; she looks down just in time to see the floor beneath open up.

“Fu—”

And then they’re falling. And screaming. They faintly hear Bow calling their names, but it’s quickly wiped away by the rush of wind in their ears.

They hit bottom fast, and find themselves trapped in a cage. “Bow!” Glimmer says, shooting up. “He’s all alone with those things! He needs us!”

“ _We_ need to get out of here,” Catra points out, rubbing the back of her head. There’s still something strange in the air. An off feeling she can’t shake.

Glimmer grabs her arm. “Come on, I’ll teleport us out.”

“Oh goody—”

The world turns for a moment, and then they’re in what feels like a tight box. “Uuuuuuuugh,” Catra groans, dropping her head against the ground. “This feels like the opposite of out.”

“Trying again.”

“Hang on—”

Too late. This time they appear in the air, shrieking as they fall. Glimmer quickly teleports them again, dropping them in a hallway. “No more teleporting,” Catra says weakly, curling up to rest her forehead against her knees for a moment and ignoring the spinning world.

“Might be a good idea,” Glimmer agrees, looking around. Her eyes fall an ominous figure approaching from the other end of the shadowy hall. “Not again.”

Catra drags herself off the floor, bracing for a fight…

And then the figure steps into the light. “Princesses!” A lock of hair lifts the welder’s mask, revealing an excited face with vibrant magenta eyes. The woman is short, with long purple hair and purple suspenders. “I’m saved!”

“Uh… Princess Entrapta, I presume?” Catra asks uncertainly.

“It’s so good to see you,” Glimmer says quickly. “I hope you don’t mind, but we sort of let ourselves in.”

“Then out of your cage. Then into a box. Then into thin air. Then—”

Catra grunts as Glimmer elbows her. Entrapta doesn’t seem to notice.

“Welcome to Dryl!” She announces happily. “ Things are usually really fun around here, but right now it's all kind of a teensy bit deadly.”

Catra looks at Glimmer, mouthing, _Is she on something?_ before turning back to Entrapta. “Yeah, so about that…”

“Oh, we should probably walk,” Entrapta says, ushering them along. “You're lucky I found you. I designed the castle as a labyrinth. I'm the only one who can navigate it.”

“I still have a few questions,” Catra says, raising a hand. Entrapta turns to look at her, and lights up.

“You’re a magicat!”

“Uh… sure? I mean, I am, I just—”

And suddenly there’s an excited princess in Catra’s face, using her hair to walk around and examine the girl. “Fascinating. They worked with the First Ones. No one’s seen a magicat in _years_. Decades, even! _Centuries!_ Are you here as the Half Moon delegate?” Entrapta gasps, looking elated. “Have you _seen_ the things they invented with the First Ones?!”

“Uh, okay, slow down,” Catra says, holding up her hands. There’s a lot to unpack there. She starts with the obvious. “What’s Half Moon?”

“The kingdom of the magicats!”

“Right. I was raised in the Fright Zone. I don’t know anything about magicats or their kingdom or… my family or anything.”

Glimmer looks at Catra out of the corner of her eye, frowning. Catra doesn’t usually bring that stuff up. “Oh.” Entrapta looks momentarily disappointed before her eyes fix on Catra’s mask. “Your headpiece! That’s an artifact, isn’t it?”

“C-Can you focus?” Catra stutters, pushing her back. “We have bigger problems right now. Why are your robots trying to killing us?”

“They didn't start out that way,” Entrapta says, hair drooping slightly. “Usually they're super useful. They do almost everything for me. Cleaning, filing, basic hygiene. Oh, and they're sound activated. Here, I'll show you!”

She claps before they have a chance to stop. “Uh, can we maybe not do that?” Glimmer asks, looking around. They hear a mechanical whirring as a giant bot comes down the hall toward them. The ground suddenly feels light beneath her feet, as if Glimmer’s just teleported her again; she staggers, reaching for something to grab and finding Glimmer’s shoulder.

“Catra?”

Entrapta is laughing. “Isn’t it adorable?” The machine makes a few unintelligible noises, and Catra’s knees nearly give out. Her face feels so warm… “It’s trying to talk!”

“Whatever it’s saying, I don’t think it’s good,” Glimmer says nervously, shifting to support Catra. “Are you okay?”

“Been better,” Catra groans, opening her eyes to try and see straight. The first thing she sees is Entrapta running to the robot, speaking into a recorder.

“Bot three-twenty nine is attempting to communicate.” The bot grabs her by the hair, and she yelps. “Oh no, bad bot!”

“Entrapta!”

Glimmer’s voice feels weirdly far away. The sides of Catra’s face are burning. Sides. Sides?

She pulls away from Glimmer and tears the mask off, throwing it aside. It doesn’t immediately fix the problem, but it gives Catra enough focus to jump forward and take out the robot. Entrapta tumbles to the ground, and Catra lands unsteadily, leaning against the wall to keep herself upright. A hand rests on her shoulder.

“Hey, are you okay?” It’s Glimmer. She thinks. It’s hard to tell.

“Yeah, just… just… gimme a minute.”

She slides down the wall, resting her head against her knees again. “Interesting,” Entrapta says into her recorder. “The magicat has become infected as well.”

“What does that mean?” Glimmer demands. “What’s wrong with her?”

“It's really fascinating.” Glimmer’s not sure if Entrapta is talking to her. “I've been experimenting with a disc that was recovered from a mine in Dryl. It was a game-changer. It held more complete First One's code than anything I've ever seen before. But it seems to have reacted with the First Ones tech that powers my bots. It infected them with some sort of a virus.”

“But why—” Glimmer stops, eyes wide. “The mask.”

“Oh, yes.” A strand of Entrapta’s hand reaches for the mask, scooping it up. “It’s an artifact from the magicats, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but it was made to work with First One tech. It’s kind of… connected to something else. Long story.”

Entrapta looks fascinated. “Can I see what it’s connected to?”

“Uh… maybe later, if we don’t die. If we destroy this disc, will that turn off the bots and stop the virus?”

Glimmer may as well have suggested they burn down the castle. “Destroy it? But the experiment isn't complete!”

“I think we can safely say that this experiment is a failure!”

But what if it's not—” Entrapta pauses. “No, you're right, it's a failure.”

“Are you two done?” Catra asks, pressing a hand to the wall to push herself up. “Let’s find this thing and destroy it already.”

“Are you okay?” Glimmer asks anxiously, standing.

“Better without the mask.” She scrubs her eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”

* * *

 _Did they do something to the mask? She_ does _always wear it, and I definitely saw it glowing in Thaymor and Salineas_ …

“Hi Adora!”

The blonde jumps as a large pincer claps her on the back. “Oh, hi, Scorpia.” She smiles, looking back at the large woman. They’re on the roof of the forge, looking out over the Fright Zone. “Something up?”

“Nah, I just like to come up here for the view sometimes. It’s nice, isn’t it?”

“It’s… definitely something,” Adora says uncertainly.

“Okay, _nice_ might not be the right word. It’s just… seeing all of it. It’s a whole kingdom. There’s something amazing about it.”

She’s so optimistic. Adora tries hard to look on the bright side, but she can never measure up to this.

“Thinking about Catra?”

“No.” Scorpia raises an eyebrow. “Yes. I just can’t figure out what they’re doing to her. And she won’t talk to me.”

“Maybe you need a place where she can’t fight,” Scorpia suggests. “Talking only.”

“I don’t think there’s anywhere like that.” Adora covers her face with her hands. “I just want to help her. Why is she so stubborn?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Scorpia says, smiling. “You guys really sound like you have something special. That kind of friendship can’t lose.”

Adora looks up, smiling back. “Yeah. I hope you’re right. Thanks, Scorpia.”

“Of course!” Scorpia claps Adora on the back again, missing the pained noise she makes. “Whatever you need.”

“Please don’t break my back,” Adora said through gritted teeth.

“Oh! Right. Sorry.”

* * *

“She doesn’t know what she’s doing,” Catra mutters to Glimmer. The princess is trying to be optimistic, but it’s seeming more and more like Catra is right. They’ve definitely been down this hall before.

“Uh, Entrapta? Are you _sure_ you know where we’re going?”

“Of course!” Entrapta says cheerfully. “This place is designed so only I can navigate it.”

They turn down _another_ hall, and Catra is trying to figure out if she can orient herself enough walk off and find this damn place on her own when Entrapta speaks in a surprised voice.

“Oh, we're here. I mean, uh, of course we're here! We were never lost.”

Glimmer and Catra exchange exasperated looks. Entrapta presses her hand to the door panel, and yelps when it shocks her. “Wow, the door is infected too! It won’t let us in.” She should _not_ sound impressed by this. “That is so smart. And awful. We’re all going to die.”

Catra groans, collapsing against the wall and sliding to the floor. “That’s not a good answer. I can’t live forever with vertigo.”

“It's okay, I've got this one,” Glimmer says confidently. “I'll just teleport into the lab.”

“Ooo, teleportation.” Entrapta is intrigued. “How does that work? Tell me everything.”

“Sure?” Glimmer says. “But maybe later, when we're not, like, facing a robot uprising.”

“It’s a date!”

Glimmer and Catra exchange another look. “I’ll be right back.”

She disappears in a shower of sparkles. Catra looks at Entrapta for a moment. “So… how does the hair work?”

“Huh?”

“You know the…” Catra makes a walking motion with her fingers. “Is it magic?”

“Oh, no, there’s nothing magical about me.” Entrapta laughs. “I’m just really smart.”

“Is… Is your _hair_ a robot?”

Glimmer reappears, looking panicked. “That was not such a great plan. The lab is very full of robots.”

“How did they look?” Entrapta asks, readying her recorder.

“Evil. I couldn't get anywhere near the disc.”

“I’m going to die,” Catra mutters, hiding her face in her knees.

“That’s… probably not true.”

Robots begin emerging form the shadows. “Okay, that’s probably true.” Glimmer grabs Catra’s arm and drags her up. “Run!”

They hurry down the hall, very aware of the metallic footsteps behind them. “Incredible development,” Entrapta reports into her recorder. “The bots seem to be working together.”

“Yeah, working together to _kill us_!” Catra reminds her through gritted teeth. “We need to find another way into the lab.”

Entrapta thinks for a moment, then lights up. “The air duct! We can use that.”

They come out into the main hall, and find themselves surrounded. Catra steadies herself on Glimmer’s shoulder, ready to fight, but this would be way too many for her even at peak condition.

“I don't suppose you have any other magical powers that could be useful right now?” Entrapta asks with a weak smile. Glimmer shakes her head.

“I don't have enough energy to teleport us all. Not without leaving someone's legs behind.”

“I’ll give up one of mine if you give up one of yours,” Entrapta suggests.

They’re saved from having to answer that by a sudden burst of smoke and liquid. Glimmer beams when she sees a familiar form attacking the robots. “It’s Bow!”

Bow and the kitchen staff, apparently. They watch in shock as the four take down all the robots. “Nice!” Bow cheers as they finish, grinning at his fellow fighters and exchanging high fives.

“Bow!” Glimmer hurries to him. “You’re okay! I was so worried.”

Catra lowers herself to the floor again, cradling her head, vaguely listening to Bow introduce himself. _I hate this place. I hate this place so much_.

“Whoa. You okay, Catra?”

“I’ll live,” she says wearily, not looking up. “Maybe.”

“Entrapta was experimenting with First One's tech,” Glimmer explains, “and it infected all of her machines with some kind of virus, and I think it’s hitting Catra because the mask is connected to the sword, which is also First One’s tech.”

“Glad the sword isn’t _here_ , then,” Bow murmurs. The words stir something in Catra’s mind. The sword is First One tech. The thing causing this is also First One tech. Had it been corrupted somehow? Or had it been made to do this? Why would the First Ones create something that would attack their own creations?

“And we have no idea what to do,” Glimmer finishes sadly. “It’s hopeless.”

“No it isn’t,” Bow says firmly. “We can do this together. Do we have a way into the lab?”

“The air duct!” Entrapta speaks up.

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

* * *

The lab has probably seen better days. “Okay, where’s the disc?” Bow asks, looking around.

“I would guess where the pulsing red roots are stemming from.” Catra points. Entrapta watches, wide-eyed, and pulls out her recorder.

“How fascinating. It has completely protected itself.”

“We have to find a way to turn it off,” Bow says.

“We can distract them,” one of the castle workers speaks up. Catra scrubs her eyes, straightening up.

“You guys do your nerd thing. We got this.”

Bow nods. “Keep ‘em busy.”

He watches them dive into the fray, then nods to Entrapta, and they hurry to try and pry the disc out of the roots.

“I hate this place,” Catra grumbles to Glimmer as she rips a robot’s head off.

“Not the biggest fan myself. It’s okay. We’ll get out of here soon.”

The bots all turn suddenly, heading toward Entrapta and Bow. Glimmer whirls to look at them, horrified. “You dumb bots, you're going the wrong way! Bow, watch out!”

“Uh, why isn’t the computer turning off?” Bow asks, backing up. Entrapta laughs, almost hysterically, turning on her recorder again.

“It's running on its own power now! That's it. We need to get outta here and burn this place to the ground. Experiment officially failed.”

“Wait,” Bow says, resting a hand on her shoulder. “I have an idea. Can you get me up high enough to aim at the disc?”

“I can try!”

Hair wraps around Bow, hauling him into the air as he aims. “Now's your chance, sonic arrow! I believe in you!”

He fires, hitting the disc dead on; the arrow lets out an awful shriek, and the robots turn to attack it. They watch in fascination as robots chip away at the roots and shatter the disc. One by one the robots fall, released from whatever weird infection the disc had caused. Everyone cheers, relieved; Glimmer turns to Catra, and finds her on the floor with her hands clasped over her ears.

“You okay?”

She shakes her head. “Ears are ringing. Can’t hear you.”

Bow hears this and cringes. Sensitive ears. Right. Glimmer hands Catra her mask and helps her stand, going to join the others. Entrapta joins them as well, her hair tapping together like a sheepish child. “Thank you for your help. And for saving our lives. I would be honored to join your Rebellion and provide you with weapons.”

“What’s happening?” Catra whispers to Glimmer, who smiles and pats her shoulder.

“I’ll tell you later.”

* * *

All Catra can hear is a constant ring as they walk out of the castle. She’s never been happier at the thought of going back to Bright Moon. Not after a night in Dryl’s Hell Castle.

She can’t hear Bow and Glimmer talking, so instead she turns inward, thinking of what she had learned.

 _Half Moon. The Kingdom of magicats_.

Catra’s never worried much about where she came from. The Fright Zone was home, for better or worse. But she had also never known there was an entire kingdom of people like her.

A hand rests on Catra’s shoulder. She jumps, looking to see Bow and Glimmer watching her with small, gentle smiles, the question of _are you okay_ apparent on their faces.

“I’m fine, guys. Let’s just get back to Bright Moon.”


	7. Princess Prom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey Adora.”
> 
> Adora straightens up, looking behind her. There’s almost a flicker of relief in her eyes. “Catra.”
> 
> “Man, you must’ve freaked _out_ when you saw the invitation.” Catra snickered. “How many bulletin boards and charts did you make?”
> 
> “...Four,” Adora admits grudgingly. “How long did you _actually_ take to get ready?”
> 
> “Eh, about ten minutes.” Catra shrugs in return. “I did skim the rules, though. This is neutral ground.”
> 
> “That’s fine, I don’t plan on fighting with you.”
> 
> “Like anything ever goes the way we plan it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for Princess Prom? :D

“Princess Prom!”

Bow and Glimmer are jumping up and down as they hug each other, squealing. “I can’t believe we finally get to go!”

“It’s going to be great!”

“Winter Wonderland! That’s so—!” Glimmer cuts off abruptly, looking around. “Wait a minute. Something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re happy. Where’s the cynical void of sarcasm that sucks happiness out of our lives?”

“...Do you mean Catra?”

Glimmer grabs Bow’s hand, and they appear in Catra’s room. The girl in question is lying on her stomach, chin propped in one hand, the other hand turning the page of a book. “I thought you said you you’d start knocking?” she asks without looking up.

“What are you _doing_? Didn’t you get your invitation?”

“My what? Oh.” Catra tilts her head back to the scroll she’d left on the bed. “That thing? Yeah, I don’t have to do that, right?”

“Of course you do! You’re a princess, it’s a thing princesses do.”

“I’m a girl with a glowy mask and a weird sword. If that’s all it takes to be a princess, then you guys need better standards.”

“Catra, come on.” Glimmer sighs, dropping onto the bed. “This is really important. Princess Frosta is hosting and she’s like, one of the most powerful princesses. We _need_ her on our side.”

“And you need me because…?”

“Because you’re _weirdly_ good at talking to people.”

“Rude. I wasn’t raised under a rock, you know.”

Bow eyes the book Catra was reading while the girls argue; he swoops in after a second and grabs it before she could stop him. “Hey—!”

“Proper Etiquette and Customs for Royal Events,” he reads the cover out loud, grinning. Glimmer’s eyes light up.

“Catraaaaaaaaaaaaa!” She falls on top of Catra, holding her tight.

“Ow! Get off, jeez…”

Catra squirms out from under Glimmer and snatches the book back from Bow. “I figured you guys were going to make me go anyway, so a little bit of studying beforehand doesn’t hurt. Don’t read so much into it.”

“Uh huh.” Bow hides a laugh behind a cough.

“This is going to be great!” Glimmer giggles. “Bow is coming as my plus one, so we’ll be there to back you up.”

“Um…”

Oh boy. Catra raises an eyebrow at Bow, who’s rubbing the back of his head. “Actually, I’m… going with Perfuma.”

“What?!”

Catra sighs, flipping the book back to where she’d left off and lying down.

* * *

“Princess Prom?” Adora repeats dubiously, looking through the scroll Scorpia showed her. “You get invited to these things?”

“Etiquette and all.” Scorpia shrugs. “I never go, it makes people uncomfortable. You know.” She held up a pincer, smiling wryly. “The other royal families never liked mine anyway, even before the Horde.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen that little sparkle girl Catra hangs around with,” Adora mutters, still scanning the scroll. “She doesn’t exactly seem like the most accepting type.” She pauses, looking up. “Have you ever _wanted_ to go?”

“What?” Scorpia laughs. “No, of course not, why would I want to do that? Hanging around all those people and seeing other places and… dancing and… little finger foods…”

Okay, she definitely wants to go. “Let’s go, then,” Adora says, ignoring the flabbergasted noises Scorpia is making. “You can get your finger foods, and I can try to get Catra away from those Bright Moon idiots.”

Scorpia tilted her head, starting to smile again. “I… _guess_ it could be fun. And I mean, if it helps you get your friend…”

Adora looks up, gratitude flooding through her. Scorpia’s a bit… much, but she’s genuinely nice. Adora appreciates it. “So do we just get dressed up or…?”

“Oh, there’s a whole thing about rules and etiquette and stuff.” Scorpia takes the scroll back, unfurling it. Adora grows pale as she watches how long it gets.

“I need a bulletin board.”

* * *

“I didn’t think it would be a big deal,” Bow insists as they walk down the hall. He’s digging a deeper and deeper hole, Catra thinks, turning a page of her book.

“It’s not,” Glimmer says. It is. “It’s fine.” It’s not. “I’m just surprised. When did you two even talk about it?”

“Oh, she was super slick. She asked me when we were fighting that Horde base.”

“That’s super slick?”

Bow shrugs. “I thought it’d be fun. And besides, Perfuma’s cool, right?”

“She's fine,” Glimmer mutters. “But we always go to events together. We have our whole routine. We wear matching outfits, share inside jokes and eat ice cream afterwards. It's our thing.”

“Well, there's nothing wrong with a new thing.” How is he so oblivious? “I gotta get ready. We'll hang out there, okay?”

He jogs off, waving over his shoulder. “But I liked our old thing,” Glimmer says quietly. Catra finally looks up from her book.

“Are… Are you going to cry?” She sounds genuinely uncomfortable. Glimmer huffs.

“ _No_. I’m going to get ready and this is going to be the best party ever. And _you_ have to find something to wear, too.”

“I do?”

“Yes! It’s a formal event, you can’t just go in… that.” Glimmer waves a hand at Catra before grabbing her wrist. “Hang on.”

“Wait, Glimmer, don’t—”

Too late. She’s already being pulled into the shower of sparkles.

* * *

“Nope, absolutely not. I don’t do dresses.”

Glimmer sighs. “ _Fine_. Is a tux acceptable?”

Catra looks up — she’d found a file about the Kingdom of Snows somewhere and has been scanning it for half an hour. “A tux might work. Is this princess really _twelve_?”

Glimmer disappears with the rack of dresses and returns with a rack of suits. “Yeah, and she’s still one of the most powerful princesses in Etheria. Don’t make fun of her.”

“Can I at least call her Princess Snowflake?” Glimmer glares at her. “ _Fine_. You’re being more uptight than usual. Still mad about Bow and Perfuma?”

“I’m not _mad_!” Catra raises an eyebrow. “I just… I don’t know.”

Glimmer disappears and appears next to the bed, flopping down on it. “Bow’s been my only friend for years.”

“And you’re afraid if he actually gets out and meets other people he’ll leave you behind.”

“No! That’s not—” Glimmer looks at Catra, surprised to find a rare, serious expression on her face.

“I always felt the same way about Adora.” Catra sits up, curling her legs under herself. “She’s better than me at like… everything. I knew when she got promoted she’d meet a bunch of other people who are better than me and leave me behind.”

Glimmer hesitates before sitting up as well, resting a hand on Catra’s knee. “She’d have to be really stupid to give you up.”

Catra laughs. “Nah, Adora could always do better. Sometimes I wondered if she just felt sorry for me, ya know? Shadow Weaver’s little punching bag, poor pathetic thing. But I don’t think she’s capable of pretending to be something she’s not. It’s just who she is.” She sighs, falling back and tucking her arms under her head. “Adora would have known what to do about all this. She’d be a way better hero.”

“Hey.” Glimmer shoves her gently. “You saved Plumeria and Salineas. Don’t get down on yourself.”

Catra smiles weakly, propping herself up on her elbows. “Thanks, Sparkles. All right, let’s take a look at these fancy clothes.”

Glimmer grins and launches off the bed, dragging Catra with her. “Some of these are definitely not your color — who wears a bright _yellow_ suit? But there has to be something…”

“Ah!” Catra grins, pulling a crimson suit off the rack, with a lighter colored button-up shirt to match. Glimmer rolls her eyes, smiling.

“What is it with you and red?”

“It’s my color. Come on, tell me I won’t look good in this.”

Glimmer can’t offer any arguments. “Okay, then. My turn!”

* * *

Catra sneezes, shivering. “I hate the cold.”

“It’ll be warmer inside,” Glimmer promises, nudging Catra along. “Come on.”

The large room they enter is decorated with ice sculptures and snowflakes, tables of food lining the walls. There’s a line leading up to throne to greet Frosta. “Okay, please just remember to be nice,” Glimmer begs quietly. “We really need Frosta on her side.”

“I got it, Sparkles, don’t worry. I can play nice when I want.”

They step up in front of the throne. Catra knows Frosta is young, but she’s far smaller than she’d been expecting. The neutral almost scowl on her face stops any comment Catra might’ve made, however. Despite what Glimmer thinks, she really does know how to behave. Knowing when to bite her tongue was essential to staying alive in the Horde.

“Revered hostess,” Glimmer says, bowing. “We come under the ancient rules of hospitality, bringing greetings from Bright Moon. And She-Ra, the legendary warrior.”

Catra makes a show of perfectly bowing, one arm across her stomach, the other stretched out to her side, while her tail swishes lazily behind her. “Your majesty.”

She can _feel_ the many disbelieving looks being shot in her direction. “ _You’re_ She-Ra?” Frosta asks, her icy demeanor momentarily breaking.

“Yeah, I don’t believe it, either.” Catra straightens up, grinning, and shoves her hands in her pockets. “But if you watch long enough, I might do something cool.”

She holds herself tall while Frosta looks her over. “You are welcome under the ancient rules of hospitality,” the young princess finally says. “Leave conflict at the door and please enjoy the ball.”

“Thank you, your majesty.”

Glimmer grabs Catra’s arm and pulls her off into the room, a high-pitched noise building in her throat. “You are _so_ …”

“ _You’re_ the one who introduced me as some legendary hero,” Catra huffs back. “I had to do _something_. What part of ‘keep expectations low’ do you not get?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re kind of starting to make a name for ourselves. You can’t keep your head down and pretend forever.”

She’s right. The problem is, Catra doesn’t know _what_ she’s pretending to be. “Hey, it’s Entrapta.” So of course she changes the subject, surging ahead of Glimmer to catch up with the other princess. Entrapta grins when she sees them.

“Catra! Glimmer! Are you here for the social experiment too?”

“Social experiment?”

“Different groups are forced to mingle.” Entrapta’s voice drops to a mysterious whisper. “Hierarchies form and break. It's the perfect place to observe behavior.” She lights up again. “And they have tiny food! Where's Bow? I wanna show him my new recorder.”

“He’s coming later,” Glimmer says shortly. Entrapta tilts her head, confused.

“Didn't he come with you? Aren't you two friends?”

“Entraptaaaaaaa,” Catra half sings, springing forward and pressing a hand against the princess’ mouth, turning her around. “ _I_ have to go home with Glimmer,” she reminds Entrapta in a growl. “So do me a favor, and _don’t_ say anything about Bow, or whatever you see tonight. Okay?”

Entrapta stares at her, wide-eyed, then looks around. A strand of hair slaps Catra’s hand aside. “There he is!” She waves, calling, “Bow!”

Catra looks around to see Bow and Perfuma walking in. Great. “They’re matching,” she hears Glimmer seething. “That’s _our_ best friend thing!”

“Feelings seem to be getting hurt,” Entrapta informs her recorder.

“Hey, I’m here too.” Catra almost weeps in pure relief at the sound of Mermista’s deadpan voice. Finally, someone _sane_. “Don’t make a big thing out of it.”

“They’re making up their own inside jokes?” Glimmer demands when Bow and Perfuma start laughing. “What? Is _Perfuma_ his new best friend now?”

“Not gonna get into whatever is happening there,” Mermista says, turning away.

“Please take me with you,” Catra muttered.

“People walking around in circles…” Entrapta is back to her observations.

“Or that.” Mermista steps back. “Look, have you seen—”

A burst of singing answered her question. “ She's a beauty can't you see? She's attending this with me! She's my princess of the sea! Mermista!” Sea Hawk practically swaggered up beside Mermista, beaming. “Oh, Princess Glimmer! And… the angry cat one.”

Catra raises an eyebrow, then looks at Mermista. “So, Sea Hawk’s your plus one?”

“No,” Mermista says flatly. “He’s just my ride.” Sea Hawk hugs her tight, and she pushes him away. “Just. My. Ride.”

Sea Hawk laughs, saying, “Of course,” before his voice drops to a whisper. “I am her plus one.”

“This is the best social experiment I've ever been to!” Entrapta is nearly vibrating in excitement.

“Hopefully it’s the _last_ one I ever go to,” Catra mutters, hands finding a home in her pockets once more. This is way more work than just hitting things. And definitely more human interaction than she’s ever comfortable with.

“Whatever,” Mermista deadpans, scanning the tables. “Do they have a kelp bar here?”

“To the buffet!” Sea Hawk declares, turning on his heel and preparing to spring off. “Adventu — oh, hi Bow!”

He sprints off, and Catra turns to greet the approaching couple. “Hey Arr— ack!”

She grunts as Glimmer grabs her and pulls her in, laughing. “That's so funny, Catra! What a funny inside joke the two of us just came up with!”

Catra would give anything to sink into the floor and never be seen again. “Catra, Glimmer,” Perfuma greets them cheerily. “It’s great to see you.”

“Hey,” Catra says weakly, trying to silently beg Bow to save her.

“We’ve been looking for you guys,” he says cheerfully. Oblivious idiot.

“Really? We’ve been here the entire time, having so much _fun_.” Glimmer emphasizes this by shaking Catra slightly. “Catra and I are having such a good time together, just the two of us. Right, Catra?”

“If I say yes will you stop shaking me?”

Bow raises an eyebrow. “Okay. Uh, we’re gonna go say hi to people. Wanna come?”

“No, you guys go on.” Glimmer laughs, waving. “We'll find you later. I wanna hear the rest of this funny story that Catra was just telling!”

Catra looks around for some other saving grace; her eyes land on a tiny figure alone at the buffet table. “Hey, Frosta’s alone, you should—” She pauses when she sees the distressed look on Glimmer’s face, then looks toward the group Bow and Perfuma have approached. “Right. Uh… I’ll be right back.”

 _Okay, flying solo. No way this could possibly go wrong_.

“Revered hostess.” She bows just slightly as she approaches, leaning against the table beside Frosta.

“Kitty.”

Catra isn’t sure if the noise she swallows is a laugh or a scoff. “You don’t buy the She-Ra thing, then?”

“Why should I when you don’t?” One of the butlers approaches her with a plate. “The snow peas and cookies are touching. Get it right.” She looks back at Catra. “You’re here about the Rebellion, aren’t you?”

“Honestly? I’m just here for the free food.” Catra grabs a cookie to emphasize the point, then hesitates for a moment before letting her expression fall into something slightly more sincere. “But… yeah. An alliance with your kingdom is really important to the Rebellion.”

“The Horde hasn't threatened us here.”

“That’s only because you’re so far out of the way, and it’s too freaking cold.” She pauses before quickly adding, “Your majesty. But that’s not going to last forever.”

“Are you implying that we can’t defend ourselves?”

“No, I’m saying it’s dangerous to underestimate what the Horde is capable of. Have you ever seen a real fight?”

Frosta’s glare is almost colder than the outside air. “Remember your place, _Kitty_. “ Catra’s ears twitch in irritation. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re here as a guest from Bright Moon. Please continue to enjoy the ball.”

She walks passed Catra. “And what good is taking care of yourself when the rest of the world is burning around you?” Frosta stops. Catra can’t tell if she’s getting somewhere or if she’s about to trapped in a block of ice. She pushes forward. “I get it, you can handle things on your own. But you could also wake up one morning and find out the rest of the world’s been taken over by the Horde, and you’re the only one left. Then what? It’s you versus all of Etheria. Do you still think you can win?”

A very long moment of silence follows. “Please continue to enjoy the ball,” Frosta finally repeats stiffly, carefully enunciating each word. Catra takes the dismissal for what it is.

“Yes, revered hostess.”

She turns away, sighing, her hands shoved in her pockets. _Remember your place_. Hopped up little brat wouldn’t last three seconds against Shadow Weaver—

Catra puts that thought on hold, shaking her head. Now isn’t the time.

Glimmer is up on the second floor, kneeling on the couch and looking over the railing at Bow, who’s surrounded by laughing people. “We’re zero for two tonight, huh?” Catra asks as she falls back against the couch, sighing and fiddling with the tie that had stayed tied for exactly three seconds. “Why don’t you just go talk to him?”

“Because he’s going to think I’m being stupid.” Glimmer sighs, resting her head on the railing. “Besides, he’s _busy_ with his new friends.”

“Chill out, Sparkles, you’re starting to sound a little too much like me.”

“Is _that_ what this is?” Glimmer asks in despair, covering her face. “I don’t wanna be you!”

“Congratulations, we have something in common.” Catra looks back and reaches over, patting Glimmer’s back. “It’ll be fine, just don’t…”

She isn’t completely sure what she’s seeing at first. Her brain puts it together in pieces. Blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. Blue eyes. Red dress. _Dress_? No, that isn’t right. But it’s definitely a dress.

_Is Adora wearing a dress?_

“Subject appears to have become unresponsive. Wide eyes, pupils enlarged, possibly turning red although, it’s hard to tell with the fur—”

Catra snaps out of her thoughts, whirling to grab Entrapta’s recorder and turn it off. “Sh-Shut up!”

Glimmer’s straightening up now as well. “Is that…?”

“Yeah.” Catra gets on her knees, resting one arm on the railing. “That’s the Force Captain she was with in Salineas, too. How did they even get in?”

“Oh, that’s Princess Scorpia,” Entrapta pipes up.

“The Horde has a princess?”

“Technically I think the land the Horde lives on has a princess. I don’t know all the details, I just did some light research on the people I thought I might encounter tonight.”

“Learn new things every day, I guess,” Catra mutters. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” Glimmer asks.

“To mess with Adora.”

She jumps back down to the first floor, Glimmer appearing beside her; they push their way through the crowd, and Catra takes the time to collect herself, taking a deep breath, shoving her hands back in her pockets.

“Hey Adora.”

Adora straightens up, looking behind her. There’s almost a flicker of relief in her eyes. “Catra.”

“Man, you must’ve freaked _out_ when you saw the invitation.” Catra snickered. “How many bulletin boards and charts did you make?”

“...Four,” Adora admits grudgingly. “How long did you _actually_ take to get ready?”

“Eh, about ten minutes.” Catra shrugs in return. “I did skim the rules, though. This is neutral ground.”

“That’s fine, I don’t plan on fighting with you.”

“Like anything ever goes the way we plan it.”

The tension in the air is thick; it’s Frosta who breaks it. “I’ll remind _all_ of you only once that this is a battle-free zone, and no violation of the rules will be tolerated. Do you all understand?”

“Of course, revered hostess,” Catra says without breaking her staring contest with Adora. “We would never dare break any rules. _Right_ , Adora?”

“Of course,” Adora says stiffly. The tense moment drags on forever before it’s interrupted by an excited squeal.

“Kitty!”

Frosta’s guards are moving to stop Scorpia before they realize she’s just crushing Catra in a hug. Catra yelps, trying to wiggle free. “What the hell?!”

Adora coughs to cover a laugh. “Right. Catra, meet Scorpia.”

“You’re so cute and furry! Can I pet your ears?”

“No!”

Catra finally gets loose and jumps to hide behind Glimmer, hissing. They’re starting to attract an audience now. “Come on,” Catra mutters, grabbing Glimmer’s arm. “You know where to find me if you wanna have that chat,” she adds over her shoulder to Adora before disappearing into the crowd.

“Are you sure letting her go is a good idea?”

“No,” Catra admits. “But neither is trying to deal with them in this crowd. Adora’s a lot of things, but she doesn’t break the rules when she knows them. She’s not here to start a fight or cause trouble. She just wants me.”

They go back up to the couch. Entrapta is leaning over the railing, still observing the dance. “Prom, hour two, thirty-seven minutes…”

“Has it _seriously_ only been two and a half hours?” Catra groans, dropping onto the couch. “When does leaving stop being impolite?”

“I believe the custom for this sort of event is four to five hours. At least two dances.”

“Uuuuuuuuuuuugh.” Catra looks at Glimmer, who’s staring down at the floor below. “Might as well sit, Sparkles. This is going to take awhile.”

“I’ll catch up with you,” Glimmer says before disappearing. Great, now she’s acting weirder.

“When did my life get so complicated?”

“To determine that, we’d have to go through your entire life in excruciating detail,” Entrapta says cheerfully. “It could be quite fun, examining the thought process of a Horde soldier turned hero.”

“I’m not a hero.”

Entrapta looks over, blinking. “What?”

“I said I’m not a hero.” Catra straightens up, turning to rest her elbow on the railing and her chin in her hand, watching everything going on below. “I can’t be what any of these people want me to be. I’m not some mystical goddess who’s going to swoop in and solve everyone’s problems. I can barely take care of my own shit.” Her gaze zeroes in on Adora, who’s found the buffet table and discovered real food. That should keep her busy for a bit. “I’m an idiot who found a magical sword and now everyone thinks I’m going to save the world. Except for my best friend who thinks I’ve been brainwashed by princesses and wants to ‘save’ me by bringing me back to someone who will _actually_ fry my brain.”

Entrapta doesn’t answer. Catra doesn’t blame her.

She doesn’t notice when Adora leaves the buffet table, but she hears the footsteps coming up the stairs. Even in whatever shoes she’s wearing, Adora always walks the same.

“Entrapta,” she says quietly, not looking away from dance floor. “Do me a favor, and find somewhere else to observe from.”

“Huh? Why?” Entrapta looks up, then pauses when Adora steps onto the landing. “Oooooh. Right. I’ll just…”

She waves a hand before hurrying off. Catra stands to face Adora, expression impassive. “Listen, Adora, I don’t know what Shadow Weaver’s been telling you—”

“Does it matter? The princesses have you completely messed up. You don’t even trust _me_ anymore.”

“I’ve always trusted you,” Catra protests. “But you’ve bought into the Horde bullshit. You think you’re on the _right_ side of this war? You know how we grew up. You know how Shadow Weaver treated me. How did it _never_ occur to you that just maybe they’re the _bad_ guys?”

“It is my duty as hostess to now announce,” Frosta calls, interrupting the tense discussion, “it is time for the first dance of the Ball.”

Catra waves a hand toward the first floor. “Look at them! They throw stupid parties and half of them have never seen a battle in their lives. Hordak doesn’t want to destroy them because they’re dangerous, he wants to destroy them because they’re stopping him from ruling Etheria.”

Adora looks down uncertainly, then back at Catra. “That’s just—”

“ _Don’t_ tell me that’s just their brainwashing talking.”

“Well, it is! They’re evil, and magic, and—”

“You know who else uses magic? Shadow Weaver! And it’s not even _her_ magic, she’s leeching off a Runestone. She’s using princess magic!” Catra blinks, a momentary thought flitting through her mind. If the Black Garnet is the Fright Zone’s Runestone and if Scorpia is technically the princess of the Fright Zone…

“That’s different!”

“You’re right, it is, because she’s _actually_ stealing magic! How much more are you going to bend over backward to defend her, Adora? All she’s ever done is hurt us. And if you take me back there, that’s all she’s going to _keep_ doing. I _know_ you believe you’re on the right side, and it’s hard to accept, but the Horde has _never_ been right!”

Adora wavers for a moment before shaking her head furiously. “No. You’re wrong. This is just the princess’ magic talking.” Catra bites down a loud groan. She’s seriously about to slap the blonde. “Just come with me, Catra.” She holds out a hand, desperation clear in her voice. “Please. We can sort this out.”

“Absolutely not. I’m not going back there. I can’t.”

Adora sighs, reaching up to pull the hairpiece out of her ponytail. Oh that’s cheating, Catra thinks when she sees how sharp it is. “We’ll fix this. I promise.”

She dives at Catra, who jumps back, balancing on the railing for a moment before jumping over Adora’s head. She grabs Adora’s arm, twisting it back. “We don’t have to—” is as far as she gets before Adora grabs her and flips her over her shoulder — a little too energetically. Catra yelps as she goes over the railing, quickly righting herself to land on her feet, one set of claws digging into the floor to ensure she won’t lose her balance.

The music has stopped, everyone staring in shock. Catra looks up to see Adora looking down at her. “What is this?” Frosta demands, standing.

“A really long story,” Catra shoots back, pushing herself up. “And possibly a cautionary tale.”

The ground rumbles beneath her feet; she jumps just in time to miss being encased by ice. She repeats this twice, much to Frosta’s annoyance.

“Hold still!”

Catra lands on Sea Hawk’s head, balancing very precariously and ignoring his whimpering. “The princess prom is a celebration of unity,” Frosta says coldly, glaring at Catra. “You’re in direct violation of the rules.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you let me and Adora go to a party together.”

Adora jumps down; Catra quickly jumps off Sea Hawk, shoving him aside so Adora won’t hit him by accident. Frosta, Mermista, Glimmer, and Netossa are all trying to aim, but the girls are moving too fast, and it’s impossible to just hit Adora without getting Catra in the process.

Adora tries to grab Catra, who dodges with a spin and grabs Adora’s arm, slamming her into a wall. “Please don’t tell me _this_ is your plan,” she says, slightly breathless. “Do you really think you’re going to take me down alone in a room full of people who hate the Horde?”

Catra isn’t sure what she’s expecting. But Adora smiling smugly isn’t it. “I’m not alone, remember?”

Something explodes, as if on cue. Then something else, then another, sending the room into chaos. Catra’s distracted as she looks back, eyes wide — _shit, she had forgotten Scorpia_ — and Adora takes the opportunity to knee Catra in the stomach then grab her by the collar, reversing their positions.

“Dirty move, Adora,” Catra groans, glaring at her friend. Adora looks proud.

“Really? I was trying to think like you.” She spins the hairpiece to hold it so the tip is pointed at Catra.

“Oh yeah? Then this is perfect, no notes. Whatcha gonna do with that?”

The answer, apparently, is drive it into Catra’s arm. She yells, half in pain, half in surprise. “What the… hell…”

The room is starting to spin. She blinks rapidly, trying to think, but that’s suddenly getting harder, as is breathing. “Just let go, Catra,” she hears Adora say, almost soothingly, before darkness sweeps her away. “This will all be fixed when you wake up.”

Glimmer teleports up above the crowd and the smoke, trying to find Catra. “Glimmer!” She looks over to see Entrapta running toward her.

“Hey! Did you see—”

“That Horde soldier stab Catra and take her away with Scorpia? Yeah.”

Glimmer blinks a few times. “ _What_? Which way?”

Entrapta points to the closest door. Glimmer grabs her and teleports down to it, dragging Entrapta out with her. “Did you see where they went?”

“I lost track of them when they got out the door.”

Glimmer looks around, wide-eyed. They’ve come out on the cliffside, just in time to see a Horde ship rising into the air. “Catra!”

A hand grabs Glimmer’s shoulder before she can do something stupid like surge forward and try to teleport on the ship. “Don’t even think about it,” Bow says firmly.

“But I—”

“You won’t be able to do anything if you kill yourself trying to get on that ship.”

He’s right, and Glimmer knows it. That doesn’t make it any easier to watch the ship disappear into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is where things start going off track, as you can see. please please please review? I'm so excited.


	8. Save the Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Catra?”_
> 
> _“You’ve got to be kidding,” Catra grumbles, looking at the door. Adora is standing half in the room, watching her in concern._
> 
> _“Please,” Catra scoffs in disbelief. “Don’t act like you’re worried about me now after you stabbed me.”_
> 
> _“I tried to talk to you, you wouldn’t listen!” Adora replies, stepping fully into the room. “The stabbing was a last resort. Besides, I barely broke the skin. Don’t be a baby.”_
> 
> _“You. Stabbed. Me.”_
> 
> _Adora sighs, shaking her head. “Forget it, you’re not going to listen.”_
> 
> _“Gee, sorry Adora, I can’t help being mad at the person who—”_
> 
> _“Stabbed you, yeah, I get it.” Adora threw her arms in the air, turning away. “I’m just trying to help, you know.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no patience, and it's my birthday, soooooooooooo. Have pain.

Consciousness is like a hammer to the chest.

Catra gasps, coughing, her head snapping up as she tries to figure out where she is. The world is still out of focus, but she recognizes it. Of course she recognizes it. This room stars in ninety percent of her dreams.

“Ah, Catra.” A chill runs down her spine at the sound of the sickly sweet voice. She can’t stop herself from cringing back when Shadow Weaver glides into view. “Welcome home.”

* * *

Glimmer is staring dismally at the table, cheek resting in her hand. Bow is next to her, elbows resting on the edge of the table. Angella is in her seat, hands folded in her lap, expression impassive.

“We have to do something.”

The words are no surprise. Angella looks at her daughter, sighing. “Glimmer…”

“No. We can’t just leave her there. She — She said her commanding officer would punish her—”

“Shadow Weaver,” Angella says quietly. “She mentioned her, briefly.”

“Do you know anything about her?” Bow asks curiously. A rare flicker of hate crosses Angella’s face.

“Yes. Far more than I’d like to know, to be honest. But now isn’t the time—”

“Now is _exactly_ the time,” Glimmer protests. “Mom, we _can’t_ leave her there. I know she likes to put on the I don’t care and nothing matters attitude, but she’s done so much to help us, and I’m not sure she even realizes it! She helped convince Perfuma, Mermista, and Entrapta to join the Princess Alliance, which is so much more than you thought we’d be able to do. I know she’s not the legendary hero we all want her to be, but she’s… she’s the reason we’ve made it this far. We can’t leave her behind.”

“We don’t know anything about the Fright Zone or how to infiltrate it,” Angella points out. “This is a suicide mission. I will not allow it.”

“So now we’re abandoning our allies now too?!” Glimmer demands, slamming her hands against the table as she stands up. “After all the times she’s helped us—”

“Believe it or not, Glimmer, I’ve had many conversations with Catra,” Angella says calmly. “If she were here to speak for herself, she would say the same thing. The needs of the rebellion outweigh the needs of one person.”

“But she’s not _one person_ ,” Glimmer says desperately. “She’s _our_ person. And she knows so much about the rebellion — who knows what she could tell them.”

“Your concerns are valid,” Angella says. “But I have an entire rebellion to think about. An entire kingdom. The world.”

Tears fill Glimmer’s eyes. She backs up abruptly, chair screeching against the floor, and walks out of the room. She doesn’t have the energy to teleport.

It’s not really a surprise when Bow follows. Sure, their fight at the prom is still fresh in their minds. But Bow’s her person. And they’re both scared out of their minds right now.

“Hey.” He rests a hand on her shoulder, trying to give her a reassuring smile. “It’s gonna be okay—”

“I hate her!”

Bow blinked at the outburst, taking a step back. “Your mom?” he guesses tentatively. Glimmer shakes her head furiously, scrubbing away the tears in her eyes.

“Catra! She made it sound like it was no big deal, she wasn’t worried about Adora being there, they were just going to _talk_. She _always_ does this and I don’t understand it. I don’t understand _her_.”

“I don’t either,” Bow admits. “We’ll just… have to ask when we get her back?”

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Glimmer sniffles miserably, wiping her eyes again. “Mom’s right. We don’t know _anything_ about the Fright Zone. We can’t go in alone.”

“Well, good thing you’re not alone.”

They snap around, surprised. Mermista, Sea Hawk, Perfuma, and Entrapta are standing in a nearby window, clearly waiting to be noticed. “What?” Glimmer says stupidly, not quite comprehending what Mermista had said.

“We’re the Princess Alliance, right? This is what we do.”

“Catra helped our kingdoms when we needed it,” Perfuma adds, smiling. “She’s one of us.”

Glimmer laughs. She can’t help herself. “ _Please_ tell her she’s a princess when we get her back. I just want to see the look on her face.”

“So, we’re doing this?”

Glimmer and Bow exchange looks, and nod. “Yeah. Just… no one tell my mom.”

* * *

Catra struggles against the metal bindings keeping her strapped to the upright table. It doesn’t help. “Now, now,” Shadow Weaver admonishes her lightly. “You still have that sleeping potion in your system. Don’t waste your energy and tire yourself out.”

“Sleeping pot—” Catra cut off abruptly, looking at the arm Adora had stabbed.

“It’s quite ingenious, really. Though I’ve come to expect nothing less from Adora.” Catra twitches, staring at the sorceress. “She just wants so much for you to come home.”

“And _you’ve_ wanted to toss me out a window since I was three,” Catra snaps. “So what are _you_ getting out of all this?”

“Oh.” Shadow Weaver chuckles, reaching for something just out of Catra’s sight. “I thought that would have been obvious.” She holds up the mask. Catra’s heart skips a beat. “I’d given up, you know. I wasted ten years trying to find the power in this thing. Yet you’ve managed it in two months. I want to know how.”

“Why should I tell you anything?”

A bony hand shoots out, grabbing Catra by the lapel of her jacket. “Because if you do, I might let you _keep_ some of your unbearable personality,” Shadow Weaver hisses. Catra flinches.

“Oh, right. You’re going to _fix_ me. Are you the one who’s been feeding Adora that brainwashing bullshit?”

“She came to the conclusion on her own. I simply encouraged her to follow her heart.”

“What do you know about following your heart? It’s not like you _have_ one.”

Crimson energy flares to life around Shadow Weaver’s hand; the current of electricity bolts through Catra, and she yells, momentarily seizing, straining against the bindings. “Do not test me, child,” Shadow Weaver snaps as Catra struggles to recover, breathing heavily. “I can _fix_ you just as easily as I can rip your consciousness from your body and tell Adora the magic the princesses used was too powerful to save you.”

Catra glares, lip curling in disgust. “You’re such a manipulative bitch.” And oh does that feel good to say. At least until Shadow Weaver shocks her again.

“You’re weak. You’ll break eventually.”

“You wish,” Catra manages to get out through a tight throat. She feels like something is suffocating her.

She can survive this. She _has_ to survive this.

* * *

Shadow Weaver truly does like her dramatics, Catra thinks as she struggles against her bindings. The sorceress has left her alone for almost an hour. Probably another mindgame.

“ _You have never been anything more than a **nuisance** to me!_”

No. Catra shakes her head furiously. Don’t think about it.

“Catra?”

“You’ve _got_ to be kidding,” Catra grumbles, looking at the door. Adora is standing half in the room, watching her in concern.

“ _Please_ ,” Catra scoffs in disbelief. “Don’t act like you’re worried about me now after you _stabbed_ me.”

“I _tried_ to talk to you, you wouldn’t listen!” Adora replies, stepping fully into the room. “The stabbing was a last resort. Besides, I barely broke the skin. Don’t be a baby.”

“You. Stabbed. Me.”

Adora sighs, shaking her head. “Forget it, you’re not going to listen.”

“Gee, sorry Adora, I can’t help being mad at the person who—”

“Stabbed you, yeah, I get it.” Adora threw her arms in the air, turning away. “I’m just trying to help, you know.”

“ _Are_ you?” Catra asks, feigning surprise. “Because this seems like the exact opposite of _help_!”

“You just don’t get it! I—”

“You _what_ , Adora?” Catra challenges her before she could finish. “You know what’s _best_ for me? You know me better than I know myself?”

“I’m _trying_ to take care of you!”

“ _Adora, you must do a better job of keeping her under control._ ”

“I don’t _need you_ to take care of me!”

Catra has been doing a surprisingly good job working on her temper. She gets angry and she snaps, but it’s been a while since she truly lost it and started yelling. Maybe it’s being away from the Fright Zone. Away from Shadow Weaver. Away from the threat of harm.

 _Or maybe it’s being out of Adora’s shadow_.

“Honestly, Catra.” An exasperated voice comes from behind Adora; she jumps, moving to see Shadow Weaver gliding into the room. Catra’s fur immediately stands on end. “Why do you always have to be so loud?” Catra glares, hissing. “Adora, give us a moment.”

Adora hesitates before stepping out. Any air of pretense is gone when the sorceress turns back to Catra. “You can make this easy on yourself and tell me how to draw the power out of the mask.”

Catra glares at the woman who had raised her — using that term loosely. The woman who had _tormented_ her for her entire life. The woman who had degraded her, made her hate herself, kicked her at every turn…

The woman who had convinced Catra she was absolutely worthless.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she informs Shadow Weaver coolly. That just gets her a chuckle.

“Well, you’ve never been very bright, have you?” Catra tries to flinch away as Shadow Weaver rests a hand on her cheek. Her thumb caresses the fur in a twisted, macabre version of caring. “Perhaps I can take care of that as well.”

“You can’t even hurt me, can you?” Catra taunts despite herself. “You’re all talk. You need me to be afraid, and tell you what you want to know, because there’s nothing else you can do.”

A long silence follows, and Catra stupidly believes for a moment that she’s won. Until Shadow Weaver pulls a small vial from her robes. “You really do have to make everything difficult, don’t you?”

Catra feels herself go stiff, crimson energy forcing her head to tilt up. Catra makes a noise in her throat, trying to wiggle away. “This will be much easier if you don’t fight.”

She uncorks the vial, grabbing Catra’s chin and forcing her mouth open, pouring the liquid in. Her hand clamps around Catra’s mouth and nose before she can spit it out, leaving her with two options — swallow or suffocate.

It’s bitter, burning her throat as she struggles to swallow it. There’s something vaguely familiar about it — an odd tingle that resembles Shadow Weaver’s magic.

The sorceress finally releases Catra; she slumps forward, coughing, trying to catch her breath. “What… was… that?” she manages to force out after a moment.

“Do you know what muscle memory is?”

The question feels so random. “It’s… It’s when you repeat a task so much that your body memorizes the movements. Like fighting.”

“Hmm. Surprising.” Shadow Weaver chuckles. “I suppose even you can’t be wrong all the time. You’ve already tapped into the power of the mask several times. I would rip that out of you completely if I could, but as that’s currently beyond my abilities, I’ll have to settle for burying it and making sure no part of you remembers that it exists.” Breathing is getting hard again. Catra can’t tell if she’s panicking or if it’s a side effect of that junk Shadow Weaver forced down her throat. “You might be a little rattled for a few days, but I’m sure Adora will understand. Reversing what those princesses did to you isn’t easy, after all.”

Catra’s stomach drops to her toes.

* * *

Glimmer reappears next to Bow and doubles over, exhausted. “Don’t use too much energy. We still need to get out of here,” Bow reminds her.

“I know, I know. I’m fine.” She straightens up, looking at the others. “I found an entrance that only has two guards on it. It’s on the other side of the building, though.”

“And what are the chances we’ll be able to get around this place without being noticed?” Mermista asks, looking at their various states of dress. They stand out like sore thumbs against the drab backdrop of the Fright Zone.

“It might help if they can’t see.” Entrapta points to a nearby security tower.

“Do you think taking out the lights would give us enough time?”

“No idea. Let’s find out!”

She hurries off to the tower. “I’ll go with her,” Perfuma sighs, running after the erratic princess.

“We get around to the other side of the building and take down the guards,” Bow says. “Then… hope the door isn’t locked?”

“I can teleport in,” Glimmer suggests.

“What did we just say about saving energy?”

“Kick the door in?” Sea Hawk suggests enthusiastically. They all doubt he’s strong enough to actually do that.

“We’re outnumbered in unknown territory,” Bow says. “We need to stay quiet as long as possible. Once the Horde realizes we’re here, it’s going to be chaos.”

The lights around them cut out. “I think they’re going to know we’re here now,” Mermista points out.

“Right, I forgot about that.”

They hurry off to the guard tower to collect Entrapta and Perfuma (who has a root wrapped around Entrapta’s wrist), and follow Glimmer as they round the building. The lights turn back on just as they’re diving behind another piece of equipment to hide.

“There.” Glimmer straightens up slightly to look at the door. “Just the two of them, and I haven’t seen anyone else come through here.”

“So how do we want to do this?” Bow asks, looking around. Perfuma lights up.

“Oh, I have an idea!” She leans around the piece of machinery, holding a hand out. Vines burst out of the ground around both guards, wrapping them up tight and bringing them down to the ground.

“That’s pretty cool.”

They run to the door, where their worst fears are confirmed — it’s locked. “Maybe one of them has a key?” Perfuma suggests, looking down at the lumps of vines.

“We don’t have time to look.” Glimmer closes her eyes, concentrating. It’s hard to teleport somewhere she’s never been before. The floor isn’t quite steady beneath her feet when she reappears; she takes a moment to orient herself.

And sees a blonde boy standing about five feet away, staring at her with his mouth hanging open. Glimmer panics, hands up. “I can explain!”

He whirls and dives for a security alarm; Glimmer quickly gathers energy in her hands and throws it, knocking him off course. She shoves the doors open, saying, “Need help with something!”

Bow is the first one in, drawing an arrow and shooting it before the boy can pick himself up. A rope releases from the arrow, wrapping around him and knocking him over again.

“Ow…”

Bow walks over, grabbing the boy and hauling him up. He looks familiar…

“You were in Salineas.”

The boy trembles for a moment before trying to put on a tough face. “Yeah, so what if I was?” He was trying hard to sound strong. Poor thing.

“Look, we don’t want to hurt you. What’s your name?” The boy blinks a few times, facade slipping. “What?”

“People don’t… usually talk to me,” he mumbles, looking away. “I’m Kyle.”

Bow puts Kyle back on his feet, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Great, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Bow. We’re not here to cause trouble, I promise. We’re just looking for our friend. Her name’s Catra. Do you know her?”

Kyle immediately goes pale. That’s a yes. “Y-You guys shouldn’t mess with that,” he stutters, backing up the best he can while still restrained.

“She kept saying she couldn’t come back here because Shadow Weaver would hurt her,” Glimmer says, stepping around Bow. “Is that true?”

Kyle looks between them, shoulders hunched. “Did you guys really brainwash her like Adora says?”

“No. We wouldn’t do that.”

He almost looks disappointed by the answer. “Adora won’t believe what anyone else says, because there’s no way Catra would just turn on us.”

“You know her?” Perfuma asks gently. Kyle nods.

“We’re squadmates. _Were_ squadmates.” His gaze drops to the ground. “I dunno what Shadow Weaver’s gonna do to her. But if Lonnie’s right, and Catra did all this on her own… then it’s probably nothing good.”

“That’s why we’re here. We just want to help her. Do you know where she is?”

Kyle looks around nervously, as if worried someone is going to overhear. “Probably the black garnet room? They wouldn’t put her in a regular cell, she knows how to escape. And Adora kept saying Shadow Weaver would fix her…”

The words are spine chilling. “Can you bring us there?”

The boy hesitates. “Not to be too pushy,” Mermista says, “but we _do_ kind of have you tied up, so I’m not sure you can really say no to us. And if you lead us into a trap—”

She cuts off abruptly, realizing something is missing. Or some _one_. “Where’s Entrapta?”

Everyone groans. “Okay, she is really putting a crimp in my harmony!” Perfuma huffs.

“We didn’t take anyone else,” Kyle says quickly.

“No, this one is our fault.” Glimmer takes a deep breath, thinking. “Okay. Mermista, Sea Hawk, Perfuma, can you guys find Entrapta? If we’re not here when you get back…” She looks at Kyle. “Where’s the black garnet room?”

“Uh… two floors up, take a left at the senior cadet locker rooms.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to remember that,” Mermista says flatly. Perfuma nods in agreement. Sea Hawk looks like he’s about to say he’ll definitely remember, but Mermista steps on his foot.

“Okay, new plan.” Bow pulls an arrow from his quiver, detaching the tip, then gets his trackerpad out and hits a few buttons. “When you find Entrapta, you can follow the signal right back to us. Just remember two floors up and let the trackerpad do the rest.”

Mermista takes the trackerpad, raising an eyebrow. “This is a terrible idea.”

“Yeah, it is. You guys good?”

“Don’t think we have a choice.” Mermista hands the trackerpad to Sea Hawk, and they head off in the other direction. Bow looks back at Kyle.

“Let’s go.”

* * *

Something’s wrong.

The room has been going in and out of focus for a couple of minutes. Catra’s entire body is tingling, like sharp, small knives being stuck into her skin. “I suppose I should have mentioned there might be a little discomfort.” Shadow Weaver almost sounds amused. “But it doesn’t matter. Soon, this won’t even be a bad memory. It can be short, though, if you just let me have what I want before I wipe everything else away.”

“Why—” Catra coughs, swallowing dryly. Her throat is still burning. “Why are you even bothering? We both know you don’t care about me.”

“Ah, but Adora _does_ care, for reasons I can’t fathom. And keeping her happy is in my best interest.” Shadow Weaver moves to hover in front of Catra, looking down at her. “Now, hold still. I can’t say this won’t hurt.”

Crimson energy sparks to life between her fingers as she presses her hands to Catra’s temples. She gets one last glare in before the energy flares, digging into her head and shooting through her spine, sending it through every part of her body.

She screams.

* * *

“Why are you here?”

Kyle looks up at Glimmer, who’s giving him an almost pitying stare. “I was born here.” He shrugs. “Most of us were. It’s not like there’s anywhere else to go.”

“There’s an entire world outside the Fright Zone.”

“Yeah, I know, but…” He moves as if to run a hand through his hair, then remembers his wrists are bound. “Not everyone out there is that nice. And I know they’re not nice here, either,” he says quickly, “but… one of our other squadmates, Rogelio. He’s a giant lizard and he doesn’t really… talk the way we do. We all learned how to talk to him, because we’re friends, ya know? No one outside the Fright Zone would accept him, though. At least here no one treats him like a monster.”

Glimmer and Bow exchange uncertain looks. Bow opens his mouth to speak — and is cut off by a distant, bone-chilling scream.

* * *

Adora is standing outside the door of the black garnet room, leaning against the wall, arms folded. What’s _taking_ so long? Had the princesses really done that much damage? What if Catra’s…?

She shakes her head, closing her eyes and letting out a long breath. Shadow Weaver can fix all of this. It’ll be fine.

Screams shatter the silence. Adora jumps, whirling back to look at the door in wide-eyed horror. _Catra?_

Her back being turned is the only thing that saves Glimmer and Bow as they race around a nearby corner without thinking. Glimmer immediately puts a hand over Kyle’s mouth, grabs Bow’s shoulder, and teleports them back safety. “I’m guessing that’s the black garnet room?” Kyle nods. Bow grabs an arrow from his quiver and knocks it into place; he leans back around the corner and aims for Adora’s back, letting it go. The arrow splits open into a net, wrapping around Adora and knocking her to the ground.

“Let’s go.” He pulls back another arrow, firing it into the wall. The arrow explodes, sending chunks off debris flying. Adora struggles to look up, stunned. What is _happening?_

_Where is it you little…_

Catra’s voice cracks, giving out under the pressure of screaming and reducing her to small moans and sharp cries. And still, Shadow Weaver can’t find any memory of learning how to tap into the mask’s power. As if it’s been hidden in a place even she can’t reach. But where—?

The chain of thought is interrupted by an explosion; Shadow Weaver nearly loses her concentration as she turns automatically to see what happened. Her hands press harder against Catra’s head, causing a momentary, pained shriek to erupt from her throat.

Bow and Glimmer run forward, jumping over Adora on the ground. They see Catra first, strapped to an upright table, twitching and making pained noises. _Then_ they see the masked sorceress hurting her. Bow raises his arrow, and Glimmer’s hands glow with energy.

“Adora, take care of them!” Shadow Weaver snaps, refocusing on Catra. “The spell can’t be interrupted.”

Adora has gotten a dagger out of her sleeve, and is cutting through the ropes, pushing herself up as soon as she’s able. Bow turns just in time to see her running at them, and quickly blocks her with his bow, knocking the dagger from her hand. She immediately draws her staff from her jacket, extending it and forcing the archer and princess to separate in order to dodge.

“Adora, wait,” Glimmer tries desperately, appearing behind the blonde. She turns, swinging again, and Glimmer teleports a few more feet away. “Catra’s told me about you. I _know_ you’re a good person.” Another swing, another teleport. “Please, this isn’t a trick, I—”

This time Adora catches her by surprise, pinning her to the wall. “You’re on the wrong side,” Glimmer insists desperately.

“You _would_ say that, wouldn’t you?”

The princess disappears again; Adora yelps in surprise as a green goo hits her back, pinning her to the wall. Glimmer reappears next to Bow, and they turn back to Shadow Weaver just in time to see her point one hand at them. Crimson electricity bursts to life around the room; they let out pained shouts as they drop to the ground.

“Enough of this,” Shadow Weaver hisses, reaching out for the black garnet. The hand still pressed to Catra’s head grows brighter, and she screams again.

“Catra—!”

Pipes creak menacingly in the walls before water bursts out from every side, all sweeping right in on Shadow Weaver and throwing her into the wall. Bow and Glimmer look up, relieved, to see Mermista, Sea Hawk, Perfuma, and Entrapta (and a bot?) hurrying toward them.

“Are you okay?” Perfuma asks as Sea Hawk helps them up.

“Yeah, we’re fine.” Bow looks back to make sure Adora is still stuck, then at Shadow Weaver, who isn’t moving. “Come on.”

Catra’s gone limp, save for the occasional twitch. “Catra?” Glimmer gets in front of her, grabbing her shoulders to hold her up and try to relieve some of the weight on her wrists. “Catra, wake up, come on.”

She makes a small, pained noise, but doesn’t respond otherwise. “We have to get her off this thing.”

“Oh!” Entrapta speaks up excitedly. “Emily can help!”

“Emi—”

The bot skitters forward, following Entrapta to the front of the group. “Don’t worry, I reprogrammed her. She’s my new friend.”

Emily reaches one leg out, carefully hitting the cuff around Catra’s right ankle, breaking it. “Wait, okay,” Bow says quickly. “She’s unconscious, we can’t just let her fall.”

“Allow me,” Sea Hawk says, sweeping forward. “You need your hands free to fight. I’ll take her.”

“Um… okay,” Bow says uncertainly. “Just don’t _ever_ tell her we let you carry her.”

Emily makes quick work of the rest of the cuffs, and Sea Hawk is ready to catch Catra when she pitches forward. Entrapta squeals quietly, patting the bot.

“We need to get out of here,” Glimmer says, eyeing Shadow Weaver nervously. She spies Catra’s mask on the floor and grabs it before they hurry out of the room. Bow and Glimmer are leading, Mermista and Perfuma flanking Sea Hawk in case anyone tries to attack.

Glimmer nearly runs into Kyle when she rounds the corner. “Wha — Kyle? Why are you still here?”

The boy looks shaken. “I… I don’t know.” His eyes flit to Catra. “Is she okay?”

“We don’t know. We need a quick way out of here. Think you can help?”

“Yeah.” Kyle backs up, looking around. “Yeah, there’s a vent system on the floor you can — just follow me.”

They’re a little surprised by the almost-order, but he hasn’t led them astray yet. “You can come with us, you know,” Glimmer says as they rush down the hall. “Your friends can, too. You don’t _have_ to stay here.”

Kyle shakes his head. “This is our home. It’s all we’ve got.”

They round another corner just in time to see two figures coming down the other end of the hall. “Let me guess,” Bow says, coming to a halt and pulling an arrow, “the rest of your squad.”

Kyle nods, grimacing. “Seriously Kyle?” the girl demands as she draws a stun baton from her belt.

“Hey, I didn’t ask to be held hostage!”

The lizard grunts, shifting into a fighting stance. “Wait—”

“Everyone stand down.”

The voice is low, but somehow manages to echo along the hall, louder than anyone else. They turn to see Adora walking the hall. “Anyone else wanna pile on today?” Mermista mutters, stepping in front of Sea Hawk and Catra. Adora stops, shoulders straight, arms crossed.

“Let Kyle go, and I’ll tell you how to get out of here.”

That’s… unexpected. “You will?”

“Adora, what—”

“Don’t argue with me, cadet.” Lonnie’s mouth immediately snaps shut, blinking in surprise. “Well? Is it a deal?”

Glimmer and Bow exchange looks before Bow steps forward, pulling an arrow out and using it to cut the bindings on Kyle’s wrists. He walks uncertainly toward Adora, who steps forward to stand in front of him. Everyone watches warily as she walks to a nearby computer console, typing quickly.

“This vent system leads to where you can steal a skiff.” Her voice is flat. If she cares about the eyes that are fixed on her, she doesn’t show it. “ Each chamber needs to be sealed and purged before you can move on to the next one. The doors will only stay open for a few seconds, so keep up the pace.”

“Why are you helping us?” Glimmer asks, frowning. The door slides open.

“You were holding Kyle hostage. It was the only way to keep him safe. I take care of my squad.” The sentences are short and clipped, like she’s trying to convince everyone else about her story. Like she’s trying to convince herself. “Are you going to stand there staring like idiots are you going to get out?”

Bow looks back at Sea Hawk, nodding for him to go first. Mermista follows, then Entrapta and Emily, then Perfuma. Glimmer and Bow go last, watching as Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio gather behind Adora. There’s something dark in her eyes, but no time to question it before she hits a button, and the door slides shut.

Lonnie looks at Adora in disbelief. “Why’d you let them go?”

“I didn’t. They were holding Kyle hostage. It was the only way to keep him safe.” Adora looks around the group, stopping on Lonnie. “Got it?”

The trio exchanges a look. “Got it, Force Captain.”

* * *

“Are we sure we can trust this?” Mermista asks as they hurry along, letting Entrapta and Emily take care of each console.

“We have Catra. I don’t think she’d send us somewhere to die.”

“Or she’s going around another way to re-capture us.”

The next door opens up to the outside. “Success!” Sea Hawk call as he hurries out, careful not to jostle Catra too much (if she wakes up in his arms, he’s going to have his face clawed, he just knows it). “This way to the vehicle bay!”

Entrapta is the last one out — she freezes when she hears Emily struggling. She’s stuck. “Wait, Emily!” she calls, hurrying back in. Perfuma whirls around to see Entrapta stepping over the threshold.

“ _The doors will only stay open for a few seconds, so keep up the pace._ ”

“Entrapta, don’t—!”

The doors shut with a loud clang. There’s nothing they can do but watch in horror as something behind the doors explodes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D


	9. Safe and Sound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.”_

_“I’m bleeding!”_

_“You're not bleeding! And why would you try and pick a fight with Octavia, anyway?”_

_“I didn't do anything! All I did was exist near her. ...And scratch her on the eyeball. And call her a dumbface.”_

_“Catra—”_

_“What?! She has a dumb face!”_

* * *

Adora leans against the railing, staring down at the floor below. Shadow Weaver isn’t thrilled that the princesses had taken Catra and gotten away. Nor is she pleased that Adora let them trade Kyle for their freedom.

 _She’s just mad the Fright Zone was invaded. Whoever’s on security tonight is screwed_.

She’s just mad that they took Catra and got away. That’s what Adora has to keep telling herself. She just wants to help, and the princesses are making everything hard.

Yeah. That’s probably it.

* * *

_“ Hey, Octavia! You're a dumbface!”_

_They shriek and giggle as the woman roars, stomping toward them._

_“Run!”_

* * *

“Glimmer?”

The girl looks up, tears in her eyes. “Mom!” And for the first time in years, she willingly runs into Angella’s arms. Angella holds her daughter tight, kissing the top of her head.

“We received word about Entrapta. Glimmer… I’m so sorry.”

If they had been around other people, Glimmer would have put on a show of being strong and not needing this kind of comfort. But it’s just her and Bow here with Angella. And Bow has seen worse. He’s wiping tears out of his eyes as he watches the mother and daughter.

“What were you both thinking?” Angella pulls away to look between them. “ _Were_ you thinking?”

“We couldn’t just leave Catra there,” Glimmer protests weakly. “You didn’t see what that… that… _witch_ was doing to her.”

“I understand your intentions,” Angella says with a sigh. “But you could’ve all been hurt—”

“I know!” Glimmer steps back, frustrated. “Just say it’s my fault Entrapta’s gone and get it over with!”

“Glimmer, that’s not…” Angella shakes her head. “It’s hard when someone dies under your command. But that doesn’t make it your fault. What you all did was very brave and noble. And very, _very_ dangerous.”

“We know,” Bow says quietly. Angella looks at him, and rests a hand on Glimmer’s head.

“How is Catra?”

Glimmer steps away from her mother’s hand, looking at the closed door they had been sitting in front of. “Aunt Casta’s still looking at her.”

Bringing Catra to Mystacor had been the only thing they could think of after Mermista and Sea Hawk had left them. Castaspella and the staff here know more about magical damage than anyone in Bright Moon. And after seeing what Shadow Weaver had done to Catra… a magical expert had seemed more important than whatever physical injuries Catra has.

“I’m sorry we came here first—”

“You made the right choice,” Angella assures her. “Castaspella can do more for her than we can in Bright Moon.”

Glimmer scrubs her eyes, nodding. “She hasn’t woken up since we saved her. She’ll… She’ll be okay, right?”

“I don’t know,” Angella admits. “Shadow Weaver is capable of… many terrible things. I can’t even begin to imagine what she put Catra through.”

Glimmer looks back at her mother, appraising her for a long moment. “You never answered us. How do you know Shadow Weaver?”

“Ah. Well…”

The doors open, and Glimmer is immediately distracted. “How is she?”

Castaspella looks older than the last time Angella saw her — admittedly, that’s been a while. Lifetimes have passed in those years. “The acolytes are still tending to her,” the woman begins to explain. She doesn’t seem entirely hopeful. “The damage is… extensive. How long did you say she was with Shadow Weaver?”

“About half a day?” Glimmer looks back at Bow, who nods. “But… She was also raised by Shadow Weaver. She’s mentioned being punished before.”

“That sounds right,” Casta murmurs darkly. “I’ll have to discuss it more with her.”

“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Angella asks, standing. Casta looks at Angella for a long moment.

“I’m not sure,” she finally admits. “There’s no way to tell how far the damage goes until she wakes up.”

“Can we see her?” Bow asks, speaking for the first time since they had arrived. Castaspella looks back into the room. The acolytes are stepping away, preparing to leave. They’ve done what they can for now.

“Of course. Come with me.”

They follow Casta into the room, nodding to the acolytes as they left. Catra looks surprisingly peaceful, tucked into the large bed. It’s not often Glimmer actually finds Catra in a bed. Usually she finds the other girl asleep in her window nook or the library.

Angella gently takes Castaspella’s arm, pulling her back into the hall while Bow and Glimmer go to sit with Catra.

“How bad is it, really?”

Casta looks at the kids, then back at her sister-in-law. “Shadow Weaver’s clearly been abusing her for years. Magic leaves scars. She’s covered in them.”

Catra’s been abused; that much has been obvious since the moment Angella met her. Knowing dark magic had been used makes it worse.

Angella looks away, her eyes falling on the mask Bow had left on the ground. Casta follows her gaze, frowning deeply. “Why are children fighting this war, Angella?”

The queen doesn’t have an answer.

* * *

_“Adora’s the only reason anyone puts up with you, you know!”_

_“Shut_ up _Lonnie! No one asked you!”_

_“Guuuuuuuuuuuys, stop fighting—”_

_She pushes away the hand trying to hold her back. “I don’t need Adora to protect me.”_

_“Oh yeah? Prove it!”_

* * *

The early-morning training session with the junior cadets passes in a blur. Adora’s pretty sure they’re wondering why she hasn’t interrupted, and start purposely messing up at the end just to get her to speak. She doesn’t.

“Adora.”

Shadow Weaver’s voice sends the cadets running the minute they’re in the hall. Adora looks up at her, expressionless. “Yes, Shadow Weaver?”

“Do you have a moment? I was hoping to talk about last night.”

“Of course.”

Adora follows her down the hall. Signs of last night’s battle become more obvious as they approach the black garnet room. “I know you’re upset about losing Catra,” Shadow Weaver says as they walk. “It was quite noble of you to put your team above keeping your friend.”

“I did what I had to do,” Adora says simply, shrugging. “Catra’s strong, she’ll be able to hold out a while longer. I don’t think Kyle would survive as long.”

“You may be right. Still, it was good of you to consider it.”

“I look out for my team. I… do have a question, though, if that’s okay.”

“Of course.”

“Did you really have to hurt her? It sounded like she was in a lot of pain.”

The answer is almost too prepared. “Sometimes suffering is necessary in order to become a better person.”

“I guess.” Adora looks at the floor, frowning. There’s still some water dripping from the pipes the water princess broke. “It just sounded so bad.”

“I won’t pretend it wasn’t hard on her,” Shadow Weaver says sympathetically. “Reversing what the princesses have done to her is going to be an ongoing challenge. She’ll need you to be strong for her.”

Adora straightens up slightly, nodding. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

Shadow Weaver smiles behind her mask. “I knew you would.”

* * *

“ _Ooooow, knock it off!”_

_“It’s going to swell if you don’t ice it!”_

_“Just go away! I don’t need you to take care of me!”_

_“I’m just trying to help! Why are you so mad?”_

_“Because I don’t need help! Leave me alone!_ ”

* * *

“This is all my fault.”

Bow looks up from his tracker pad, frowning sadly. “You didn’t hand Catra over to Shadow Weaver.”

“I should’ve been able to protect her.” Glimmer curls up tight, holding her legs against her chest. Catra’s bed is big enough for all of them to fit on it without disrupting her. Castaspella and the acolytes came in to check on her periodically, or to bring Glimmer and Bow food, but other than that, they’re left alone. “I was so worried about losing my friends that I _literally_ lost a friend and there was nothing I could do.”

Bow sets his tracker pad aside and shifts to sit with Glimmer on the other side of the bed. “You didn’t know.”

“I knew Adora was there. And Catra acted like she wasn’t worried because she didn’t want _me_ to worry.” Glimmer scrubs her eyes furiously. “She’s so _stupid_.”

“She was trying to protect you. But… yeah.” Bow sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t understand her sometimes.”

“Same.” Glimmer looks back at the sleeping girl. It’s weird to see her so… soft. Catra has an almost constant air of sharp, careless chaos, but that’s gone now. Possibly forever.

No, she can’t think like that.

“Bow?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry about the way I acted last night.” How is it possible that it was _only_ last night? “I was being dumb, and Catra didn’t ask for help because of it, and now she’s hurt and Entrapta is… and the Princess Alliance is…”

Glimmer curls up tighter, hiding her face in her knees. Bow wraps an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure it out. And I already forgave you, remember?”

She leans on him, smiling slightly. “Yeah. You’re a really great friend, you know that, right?”

Bow’s chest puffs up slightly with pride. “Yeah, I know.”

Glimmer nudges him, giggling, then looks back at Catra. Still sleeping.

She’ll be okay. She has to be okay.

* * *

_“I told you it’d swell if you didn’t ice it.”_

_“Shut up.”_

_“Why are you being so dumb about this?”_

_“I’m not being dumb!”_

_“Yes you are! Why did you even start that fight?”_

_“Because Lonnie was annoying me! Why can’t you just mind your own business for once?!”_

_“Because you’re my friend, stupid!”_

* * *

“Adora!”

A lot of people are looking for her today, Adora thinks, looking over her shoulder. Scorpia is making her way down the hall, smiling that big same, big smile. How does she always manage to be in such a good mood?

“Hey, I uh… heard about that thing with Catra and the princesses. You okay? I know getting her back was a big deal.”

“I’m all right.” It’s true, mostly. She’s frustrated, and possibly thinking too much, but she’s all right. “Thanks, though. And thanks for helping me out with that princess prom junk.”

“Oh, no problem! It was… actually kind of fun. I don’t get out much, ya know? I mean, I’m sure you know. You’re here too.” Scorpia chuckles. “Anyway, if you ever need help with anything else…”

“I might, actually,” Adora says slowly, looking around. “I’ll catch up with you later, but…”

Her voice drifts off when a faint noise hits her ears. “Something wrong?” Scorpia asks, tilting her head.

“Uh… no. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

* * *

_“It’s open.”_

_“We're definitely not allowed in there.”_

_The girls exchange looks, giggling, and run into the room._

_“Wow…”_

_She reaches out to the stone, yelping when it shocks her._

_“Ma-Maybe we should get out of here…”_

_They pause when they hear a groan from the hallway, exchanging panicked looks, and run to hide. The next few moments are blur…_

_“Get out!”_

* * *

Glimmer watches her aunt gently check Catra over, her hands glowing pink. “She hasn’t even moved,” Glimmer says after a moment. Casta sighs, sitting beside her. Bow is asleep at the other end of the bed.

“I’m sure she just needs rest. Don’t cats sleep sixteen hours a day anyway?”

Glimmer giggles despite herself. “Yeah, but Catra’s not like that. I think this is the most I’ve ever seen her sleep. Even when we have sleepovers, she’s awake when I fall asleep, and awake when I wake up.” Glimmer pauses, hesitating. “Sometimes I think she’s afraid.”

“All the more reason for her to rest now while she can.” Casta gives Glimmer a gentle smile. “We’re doing everything we can. I promise.”

“I know you are.”

Which possibly makes it worse. What if everything they can do still isn’t enough?

* * *

_“What do you think you're doing in here?”_

_“W-We were just playing.”_

_“Insolent_ child _. I've come to expect such disgraceful behavior from you. But I will_ not _allow you to drag Adora down as well.”_

_“Shadow Weaver, it wasn't her fault, it was my idea, too!”_

_“You have never been anything more than a nuisance to me! I've kept you around this long because Adora was fond of you, but if you ever do anything to jeopardize her future, I will dispose of you myself. Do. You. Understand?”_

* * *

Adora finishes her latest attack on the punching bag, flexing her fingers. They hurt, but it’s a good hurt. The kind that only comes from exertion, from throwing herself at something with everything she’s got.

And she’s finally made a decision. She sends a message to Scorpia before heading into the shower to clean up. She doesn’t want to drag Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio into this — they’ve already lied once. And in all honesty, Adora isn’t sure they’re strong enough to pull this off.

And Scorpia might have other uses, depending on how this went.

Adora steps into the shower, frowning at the ceiling. Catra’s screams from the night before are still echoing in her ears.

_“Sometimes suffering is necessary in order to become a better person.”_

* * *

_“It doesn’t matter what they do to us, you know?”_

* * *

Glimmer lies beside Catra, watching her intently. She’s exhausted; as much as she doesn’t want Catra to be alone when she wakes up, she’s been through a lot in the last day as well. She hasn’t even gone back to Bright Moon to recharge.

And the last twenty-four hours have been emotionally draining.

 _I’m still here,_ she reasons as she closes her eyes. _And Bow is still here. She’ll know she’s safe. If she remembers us._

Glimmer tries to shake off that last thought. Of course she’ll remember them.

* * *

_“You look out for me, and I look out for you.”_

* * *

Scorpia’s waiting outside Adora’s room when she arrives. “Hey.” Adora gives her a small smile, letting her in. “So, before anything else, I want you to know that this might involve treason.”

“Uh…” Scorpia blinks a few times, bewildered. “That’s definitely a big step from the princess prom, but okay. I mean, I’m willing to hear what you have to say. And I won’t tell anyone else.”

Adora has to admit, she’s a little surprised. Scorpia is either too kind or too naive.

They’d find out which, she supposes.

* * *

_“Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.”_

* * *

Everything feels heavy. There’s a dull but constant pain thrumming through her entire body, and she can’t even find the strength to groan. She tries to move her arm. Nothing. Tries to tap a finger. Nothing. Tries to wiggle a toe. Nothing.

Panic is starting to build in her chest, but she can’t even express _that_ properly. She feels like she’s trying to move through concrete, and can’t tell up from down. The bed underneath her is completely unfamiliar. The blankets feel wrong against her fur. Everything is _wrong_.

* * *

_“You promise?”_

* * *

“So what’s up?”

Adora leans against the wall next to her bed, arms crossed tight against her chest. “I don’t think I can trust Shadow Weaver.” The words are slow, like she’s having the realization as she speaks. Scorpia blinks a few times. “She raised me and Catra, and I know she didn’t always… treat Catra the best, but I mean… she still raised us. I thought she had to care, even just a little.”

“But now…?” Scorpia prompts.

“Now I’m not sure. The way Catra was screaming last night…” Adora shakes her head. “That wasn’t help. That kind of suffering isn’t _help_. And it wouldn’t have made Catra _better_.”

Scorpia watches Adora, admiration in her eyes. “You really care about her, don’t you?”

“She’s my friend. I promised I’d take care of her a long time ago, and I’m not going to let her down now.” Adora fiddles with her force captain badge as she speaks. It’s funny. If Shadow Weaver had never given her this, they wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with. “If you don’t want to be part of it, I don’t blame you.”

“To be honest, Shadow Weaver scares me.” Scorpia chuckles, rubbing the back of her head. “But… whatever I can do to help, just let me know.”

Adora smiles, and the knot of tension in her chest dissolved. She _could_ do this alone. But having someone to back her up was nice. It made her feel safe.

“Thanks, Scorpia.”

* * *

_“I promise.”_

* * *

She finally forces her eyes to open.

Glimmer is almost asleep when she feels the body next to her shift slightly. She immediately sits up and leans over, just in time to see see Catra’s eyes flutter open. Her gaze is glassy and exhausted, but she’s _awake_.

“Catra!” Glimmer winces, then lowers her voice. “Do you… know who I am?”

Catra blinks a few times — each one seems like a hard, concentrated effort — before finally focusing. “‘Course, Sparkles.” Her voice is hoarse. “Like I could forget you.”

Glimmer _screeches_ , throwing herself on top of Catra and hugging her tight. Bow jumps and falls off the bed. Catra groans, patting Glimmer’s back.

“Ow, okay, ow. Good to see you too.”

“You’re awake!”

Bow joins the pile, and Catra nearly cries. “Guys… can’t… breathe.”

“Oh!” They scramble up quickly, smiling sheepishly. Catra’s lips twitch into a weak smile back.

“Why’re you both being so—”

The memories hit all at once. Prom. Adora. The hidden knife in her arm.

She shoots up, much to her body’s protest, head snapping around. “Shadow Weaver!”

“It’s okay!” Glimmer says quickly. Bow rests a hand on Catra’s shoulder to steady her. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Shadow Weaver isn’t here.”

Catra’s eyes are still moving, as if expecting the sorceress to appear any second. “Where… Where is _here_?”

“Mystacor.” Glimmer settles down next to Catra, giving her a small smile. “My aunt is the head sorceress, and we thought we’d get more help for you here than we would in Bright Moon.”

Catra is wide-eyed as she looks at herself, her arms. Her fingers probe her body uncertainly. She’d been changed out of the (probably ruined) tux at some point, and is now wearing a long white, thin nightgown. The sleeves are short; she can see a bandage on her arm where Adora had stabbed her.

Adora had stabbed her. The sentence feels completely nonsensical.

“I’m going to get Aunt Casta.” Glimmer is talking to Bow, as Catra seems to have checked out of reality for the moment. Bow nods, and Glimmer disappears. Catra tries to shrink back into the blankets, as if she can disappear if she tries hard enough.

“Hey.” She’s surprised when a gentle hand scritches behind her ear. Bow, of course. The only idiot who would think _petting_ Catra without asking first is a good idea. Or maybe he just knows she’s not a threat. Not like this. “It’s okay, really. I know you’re freaked out, but you’re safe now. Mystacor is like, the safest place in the world. No one’s getting in here.”

Glimmer returns with Angella and Castaspella. Catra makes a small, surprised noise, shuffling back into Bow’s arms. She is _really_ freaked out. It hurts everyone who knows her and knows how strong she tries to be.

“It’s okay!” Glimmer says quickly. They’re going to be saying that for a while. Catra looks at her, then Angella, and finally her wary gaze lands on the woman she doesn’t know. “This is my aunt Castaspella. She’s been taking care of you since we got you out of the Fright Zone.”

“It’s good to see you awake,” Castaspella says with a smile, trying to be gentle. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“Um…” Catra looks between Glimmer and Bow, who both giving her a thumbs up, and she nods. Castaspella sits down on the end of the bed, keeping her distance from the nervous girl.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

Catra looks down at her hands. They’re shaking.

_“Now, hold still. I can’t say this won’t hurt.”_

“Shadow Weaver. She was talking to me and then… I don’t know, she was trying to do something to my head. It _hurt_ …”

Glimmer and Bow exchanged looks, remember Catra’s screams. _Hurt_ might be a bit of an understatement. “Okay. Let’s go back to the beginning.” Casta nods to the bandage on Catra’s arm. She winces slightly, other hand reaching out to hold it.

“Adora had a knife hidden in her hairpiece. Dirty move. I guess she learned something from me after all. It’d been coated in some kind of… I dunno, sleeping potion or something. It knocked me out pretty fast.”

They had found the remaining dregs of a sleep potion in her body, so that lines up. “I… woke up in the Fright Zone, in…” She shudders, closing her eyes. “In the black garnet room.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a Runestone. I didn’t put that together until I found out about Scorpia being a princess, but… I guess it makes sense. The Fright Zone used to be a kingdom. It has a princess. It has a Runestone. Shadow Weaver uses it for power. She’s like a leech.”

Casta’s expression darkens. “Yes, that sounds about right.” She notices the nervous look on Catra’s face and quickly masks her own. “I’m sorry. Continue.”

“She um… I don’t know what it was, but she made me drink _something_. Magic has a smell, you know. It’s hard to explain, but the stuff _tasted_ like her magic.”

She shudders. “Did she say what it was for?”

“Yeah.” Catra nods once, eyes going distant. “She wanted to erase everything — shockingly, she’s never liked me much, so this was a good excuse to hit the reset button and make me what _she_ wanted. She said the… potion or whatever was to make sure she reached every part of me to rip out any subconscious memories and bury whatever let me tap into the… mask…”

Her voice drifts off as she reaches up, realizing for the first time she isn’t wearing it. “Right here,” Angella assures her gently, holding the mask up. There’s no need to cause her unnecessary stress. Catra nods, taking a deep breath before continuing.

“She had her hands pressed to my head and she… it was like I was being electrocuted, over and over. The crap she gave me carried it _everywhere_. It didn’t _stop_.”

She shivers, claws digging and breaking skin. Four pairs of hands reach to stop her, and she curls in on herself, ducking her head.

“I think that’s enough for now,” Casta says quietly, letting her hands fall back to her lap. “We did find traces of foreign substances in your body. Now that we know what they are, we can treat them properly and flush them out. I’d like to talk to you about a few other things when you’re feeling better. Is that okay?”

Catra nods once, not looking up. Casta left to do whatever they had to do to start treating Catra, leaving Angella, Glimmer, and Bow with no idea how to help.

“Catra, are you…?”

“I’m tired,” she mumbles, not looking at any of them. “Is it okay if I sleep?”

“Yes, of course,” Angella says. She’s not entirely sure if that’s right, but Castaspella will yell at her if it’s not. “We’ll let you have some privacy.”

“We will?” Glimmer asks dumbly, staring at her mother. Angella raises an eyebrow. “I mean… yeah, we will.” She rests a hand on Catra’s shoulder, giving her a small smile. “We’ll be right next door if you need anything, okay?”

Catra nods slowly. “Yeah. Thanks, Sparkles.”

They leave the room, pausing for a moment to watch Catra wrap back up in the blankets and lie down.

She’ll be okay. She has to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) The whole point of the memories in Promise was to remind Catra that she's always been second best, what's the point here?  
> -Adora's actively remembering everything, and for her it all comes down to protecting Catra, and reflecting on how she's failed at that.
> 
> -Catra is dreaming, reflecting on a) the times Adora protected her and b) the ways the Horde in general and Shadow Weaver specifically made her life miserable, basically reaffirming (especially after that whole torture thing) that she was right to leave.
> 
> -The lack of direct interaction between them while reliving the memories kind of takes some of the sting out of it, because they're not filling the Hero and Sidekick roles at the same time, and Catra probably won't remember much of her dreams anyway.
> 
> -No, Adora isn't leaving the Horde any time soon. But we're starting to get into a personality shift that's going to be important going forward.


	10. Lies In The Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Not everything you do has to be amazing for it to matter.”_
> 
> _The words freeze anything else Catra is thinking of saying. How many time has she been told in her life that nothing she did was important if it wasn’t perfect? How many times had she stood back in the shadows for the terrible crime of coming in second to Adora’s perfect first place? How many times had she been demeaned for never being good enough, for always being inferior to the golden child, for not even existing right?_
> 
> _Casta looks at Catra when she doesn’t respond. She looks as if someone just ripped the floor out from under her. “I, um…” Her voice shakes slightly. “I think I’m tired.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit 1,000 followers on Tumblr, so what the hell, day early update. I love this chapter a lot. Someone give Catra a hug.

Mystacor is nice.

The air is fresh and crisp in a way that’s different from Bright Moon, and _certainly_ different from the Fright Zone. It’s weirdly quiet — there’s always ambient noise in a place, even when everything else has gone silent. But Mystacor truly is a world of its own. Every now and again, Catra will hear the gentle rush of waves washing up the shore, but even that feels like it gets lost in the silence.

Catra sits in the nook beside her open window, looking down at the world, at the cloudy barrier surrounding the island. She has a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and the mask resting against her legs. The breakfast she’d been brought an hour ago hasn’t been touched. She can’t pretend to be hungry. Glimmer and Bow had come by to check on her, and she had pretended to be asleep. She’s sure they’ll be back. She should probably get back to bed…

But she doesn’t move.

_Get up, idiot. It’s not like you haven’t had worse happen to you. Get over yourself._

The self-deprecating voice is mostly her own, with a hint of Shadow Weaver. She sighs, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against her knees.

A knock at the door shakes her out of her thoughts. She looks up, waiting for the door to open, and realizes she has a choice. She can pretend to be asleep, and the person will go away.

But she can’t avoid everyone forever.

“I’m awake.”

The door opens, and Catra bites back a groan. She _has_ been hoping to avoid Castaspella until Glimmer is around. She doesn’t know the woman, and it puts her on edge.

“Can I come in?”

Catra shrugs, looking back outside. “Your palace. I’m just taking up space.”

“That’s not a yes or a no.”

 _For fuck’s sake_. “Yeah, you can come in.”

“Thank you.” She leaves the door open a little as she steps in. “Enjoying the view?”

“Yes,” Catra admits, crossing her arms against her chest. “It’s nice.”

“I happen to like it as well.” Casta settles at the other end of the nook, giving Catra a smile. “How are you feeling?”

Catra looks at the mask again, frowning. “I’m… not sure,” she admits. “Weird. But not like… I’m fine, mostly, kind of ache-y, but I’ve had way worse. Everything _feels_ off, though. Like… I dunno, I’m a second behind everything.”

“Magic that tampers with the mind has side effects,” Casta says. “You may need a few days of rest before things start to feel normal again. Getting the rest of that junk out of your system will help. Which reminds me.”

She holds up a hand, summoning a vial of soft blue, shimmering liquid. Catra recoils automatically, tail puffing, a hiss escaping her lips. “I know,” Casta says quietly. “I won’t force you to take it. The potions Shadow Weaver gave you will leave your system naturally as well, it’ll just take longer. This is your choice.”

Catra stares at the vial, then looks away with a shudder. Casta sets it aside. “Glimmer told me Shadow Weaver raised you.”

“Of course she did,” Catra mutters, curling up tighter.

“Did she use magic on you often?”

Catra snorts bitterly. “Is two or three times a week for my entire life _often_?”

“That would qualify, yes.” There’s something dark under Casta’s tone. Catra decides against questioning it. “Did you know magic leaves scars? Not visible ones,” she adds as Catra checks her arms. “Everyone has an aura of some kind. Prolonged magical abuse causes permanent damage to that aura.”

“Let me guess, mine’s a mess.”

“To be blunt, yes. It’s the equivalent of being physically abused. Which… I’m guessing also happened.” Catra nods once. “I’m not surprised.”

Catra bites her tongue for a long moment before finally asking, “How do you know her?” Because she very obviously knows Shadow Weaver. Casta’s lips twitch; she waves a hand again, this time summoning a ball of yarn and a set of needles. She begins crossing them swiftly, focusing on her work as she speaks.

“She used to teach here.” Catra’s ears flatten against her head, eyes narrowing. “She was a different person, then. I was young, and never good enough for her to bless me with her time.” There’s a bitterness in Casta’s tone that Catra can relate to. “But my brother… Glimmer’s father, he was talented far beyond his age. Light Spinner — Shadow Weaver — took an interest in him. She began teaching him, making him her little prodigy. She enjoyed reminding the rest of us that we would never live up to Micah. That all we would ever do was drag him down.”

Catra snorts. “Good news, she hasn’t changed at all.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.” Casta pauses to count along the fabric she’s working on, then continues. “She was always a little selfish, and a little condescending, but I never would have imagined her _capable_ of physically hurting a child. Putting them down, absolutely — as I said, no one was ever as good as Micah. She was greedy, though, and it led her down some dark paths. Micah broke away. I’ve always been grateful for that.”

Catra stares at the needles in Casta’s hands, going over everything the sorceress has said. “He was Adora,” she finally says quietly. Casta looks over, tilting her head.

“Hm?”

“My… My friend, the one who’s still with the Horde. She’s Shadow Weaver’s golden child. I guess she learned a few things from messing with other kids, though, because she’s always made sure Adora never had another way to go. She made Adora feel _obligated_ to do things, and always put the responsibility on her. Adora doesn’t really… have anyone else in the Horde that she cares about. If she wasn’t completely brainwashed by all the crap they tell us, she’d probably be horrified by what they’re doing to Etheria. But she thinks it’s right, and that it’s up to _her_ to make sure they win the war. _I_ was always just a distraction that was going to drag her down.”

Casta nods slowly, looking up from her work. “She truly hasn’t changed much, has she? I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Does it matter anymore?”

“If it hurt you, yes. It matters.” Catra looks up to meet Casta’s gaze, stunned. “You don’t think about your own feelings much, do you?”

“I think about myself all the time, I’m selfish as all fu — hell.” She looks out the window again, watching the clouds.

“Really? Because a selfish person wouldn’t have lied to Glimmer to keep her out of trouble and tried to handle everything on her own.”

“I didn’t _lie_ to Glimmer, I just… things between me and Adora need to stay between me and Adora. It’s a totally separate thing.”

“Mmhm.” Casta stops to count again. “You still put yourself in danger to try and keep others safe.”

“I _guess_. Doesn’t mean I did anything particularly amazing.”

“Not everything you do has to be amazing for it to matter.”

The words freeze anything else Catra is thinking of saying. How many time has she been told in her life that nothing she did was important if it wasn’t perfect? How many times had she stood back in the shadows for the terrible crime of coming in second to Adora’s perfect first place? How many times had she been demeaned for never being _good enough_ , for always being inferior to the golden child, for not even _existing_ right?

Casta looks at Catra when she doesn’t respond. She looks as if someone just ripped the floor out from under her. “I, um…” Her voice shakes slightly. “I think I’m tired.”

“Then you should get some more rest.” Castaspella sends her knitting away and stands, smiling. “And you should eat something later.”

“I will,” Catra says quietly, quietly unfolding. “Thank you.”

* * *

Repairs to the hallway are going well. It’ll be awhile before the pipes are fixed and water is restored, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for Shadow Weaver, Adora thinks as she looks around.

“Shadow Weaver?” Adora peeks into the black garnet room, looking around. The sorceress isn’t there. Adora hesitates, remembering the last time she had come in here when Shadow Weaver was gone. She still dreams about Catra stuck in that paralyzing magic.

But she’s an adult, and Catra isn’t here. She steps in, looking around. She’s sure the workers have already been told not to go near this room without Shadow Weaver around, and apparently she hasn’t been here all day, because the room had barely been touched.

 _Where does she even go when she’s not here?_ Adora wonders, looking the black garnet up and down. She can’t imagine Shadow Weaver on the frontlines doing anything that might get her hands dirty — that’s what she has the cadets and force captains for. What else is there to do?

Maybe she’s trying to find another source of magic. She’s depended on the black garnet for years, but she has to know that isn’t safe — Hordak gives her the power, and Hordak can take it away. Adora wouldn’t blame her for wanting some kind of backup plan.

Adora’s mind flashes back to Catra’s mask. She had seen it glowing several times. Was it magical? How’s Catra using it? If it has power, why did she find it in a forgotten box in a forgotten closet of the forge? It doesn’t make sense.

“Adora.”

She jumps, turning to look at Shadow Weaver. “Sorry, ma’am, I was just…”

“You wanted to ask about Catra.” The sorceress had promised to try and track her down after they realized she hadn’t been brought back to Bright Moon. “I haven’t had any luck yet, unfortunately.”

“I see.” Adora looks at the floor, then back at Shadow Weaver. “Can I ask a question?”

“Of course.”

“Are you trying to get Catra back, or the mask?” The question catches Shadow Weaver by surprise. “She found that thing when we were fifteen and nothing weird has ever happened. But she leaves, and suddenly it’s magical? Did you know? Why did you let her keep it?”

Shadow Weaver frowns behind her mask, glad, not for the first time, that her face is hidden. “The mask is nothing but a trinket, Adora. It would have been secure in my care if there had been anything magical about it. I can only guess that it has something to do with whatever the princesses have done to Catra.”

“You’re really trying to save her, then?”

“Of course I am. Catra and I have had our… grievances over the years, but I wouldn’t wish harm on her, especially not at the hands of the princesses.”

Adora nods slowly. “Okay. I’m sorry for doubting you, I just…”

“The last few days have been stressful,” Shadow Weaver says in a placating tone. “And you’re worried. I understand.” She reaches out to tuck a strand of hair behind Adora’s ear, caressing her cheek. “You mustn’t be distracted, however. Stay focused on the mission. You’ll do Catra a lot more good that way.”

“Right. Yeah.” Adora takes a deep breath. “Stay focused. Thank you, Shadow Weaver.”

She doesn’t hear whatever useless platitude Shadow Weaver offers in return as she leaves. The mask was just a useless trinket. She has no real reason to doubt Shadow Weaver.

Then why does she feel lied to?

A faint noise reaches her ears, and she looks surprised, eyes falling on the vents. Years of playing hide and seek with Catra had taught her to always listen to the vents — Catra’s favorite place to hide. She was the only one who had ever done that. Maybe Adora’s hearing things, she decides as she starts walking again.

Shadow Weaver waits until Adora’s footsteps have faded away before turning to the looking glass, summoning up an image of Catra. She’s sitting on a bed, curled up, staring vacantly at the wall. Of course they had brought her to Mystacor. No doubt Castaspella has already discovered the damage Shadow Weaver had done — assuming she knows what she’s doing, which Shadow Weaver doubts. She’s about to dismiss the image — there’s no point in going after her in Mystacor, they have numbers, even if they don’t have skill — when the bedroom door opens, and her little friends walk in. Maybe there’s something to learn.

* * *

Catra sits up when Bow and Glimmer walk in with a plate of fruit — Casta had sent them with food to try and guilt Catra into eating. It’ll work, she thinks. Even if she’s not hungry. She’ll eat so Glimmer and Bow don’t worry.

“How are you?” Glimmer asks, hugging her tight. Bow sets the plate down and joins the hug.

“I’m fine, guys,” Catra mumbles, returning the hug half-heartedly and pulling away. “Seriously, I’m just a little tired.”

“Probably hungry, too,” Bow says cheerfully, grabbing the plate again. “They have the best fruit here. It’s like magic.”

Catra pauses halfway through reaching for a grape. “It’s not _really_ magic,” Glimmer assures her quickly, realizing that the idea of putting actual magic in her mouth probably isn’t appealing to Catra. “It’s just really good. No magic. I promise.”

Catra frowns, but finally follows through and takes a grape, popping it in her mouth. Okay, it _is_ good. She relaxes slightly and takes another while Bow and Glimmer sit with her. “You guys didn’t seriously go into the Fright Zone for me, did you?”

“Of course we did! Did you think we would just leave you there?”

“Kind of,” Catra admits, picking up a piece of apple. “I mean, the Fright Zone is dangerous. And hard to get around.”

“We took a hostage,” Bow said, taking a piece of pineapple. “He was pretty nice, though.”

Catra raised an eyebrow. “Blonde kid, too skinny, sounds like he’s still going through puberty?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“ _Seriously_ , Kyle.” Catra sighs heavily, shaking her head. “He _would_ get captured by a bunch of princesses on his home turf.”

“He… doesn’t seem like much of a fighter,” Glimmer says with a small giggle.

“He’s not. If he makes it to twenty-five and he’s smart, he’ll get out of the soldier division and go to factory work or something.”

“Why twenty-five?”

“Mandatory service time.” Catra picks off another grape. They’re really good. “Senior cadets go into field work at eighteen and stay there until they die or turn twenty-five. After that, they can continue as a soldier or retire for a safer job around the Fright Zone.”

Bow frowns, his eyebrows creasing. “How many people like Kyle actually make it to twenty-five?”

“Not many,” Catra admits. “But he’s got a better Force Captain than most, so he has a chance. Don’t tell me you guys bonded.”

“Of course not, we just… kinda feel bad for him.”

“Yeah, he’s easy to pity.” Catra is starting to feel a little better as she eats. “Wait, did the entire Alliance go?” She laughs. “How did that go with Entrapta? Tech is literally crawling around the floors… there…”

Her voice drifts off when Glimmer and Bow exchange looks. “What?” Nothing. Catra feels like there’s a rock in her stomach. “What? _What_?”

“You should get some more rest—”

“No, tell me what’s going on.” Catra’s heart is pounding painfully against her ribs. She struggles against hyperventilating. “What happened?”

“We…” Glimmer sighs, shoulders falling. “Adora helped us escape. We’re not sure why. But she sent us through a ventilation system to get to the skiffs…”

Catra’s face loses all color. Her hands are shaking, and her head slowly starts to move in denial. “No. No, no, no, no.”

“Entrapta had found a robot and reprogrammed it. The robot got stuck in the last room, and Entrapta ran back…”

“No,” Catra whispers weakly. “No.”

They should have waited to tell her, Glimmer thinks regretfully as Catra trembles. “No.” Tears fill her eyes. “ _No_.” Bow and Glimmer don’t say anything. They can’t tell her it’s not true. They can’t tell her Entrapta is okay. “You… You _idiots_!”

Anger finally takes hold. “Why the hell did you even go there?!” She doesn’t remember standing, or sending the plate flying. She only just hears the ceramic plate shattering. “What were you _thinking_?!”

“We were just—”

“Just _what_?! Trying to be _heroes_?”

“We were trying to save you!” Glimmer shouts back, standing. “Entrapta died saving you!”

“I _didn’t ask you to come back for me_!” Catra’s voice cracked. “You should’ve just left me there!”

“Guys—” Bow stands, trying to defuse the situation. That isn’t happening.

“How could you say that?! You don’t know what she would have done!”

“I know _exactly_ what she would have done, and that’s _exactly_ why you should’ve left me! At least everyone would still be alive!”

“Do you think it’s that easy?!” Tears fill Glimmer’s eyes. “Do you really think we could just abandon you?!”

“ _Yes_! My life is worthless! What kind of trade is me for a princess?!”

“Catra!” Bow tries to break in again, hands up. “You know that’s not true—”

“Yes it is! My life has _always_ been worthless, that’s just how it is!”

“ _What_ is going on in here?” Castaspella demands as she walks in, cutting off any response Glimmer or Bow could have given. Which is for the best, because they don’t have an answer. “Catra, you should be resting—”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Catra snarls, whirling on her heel and storming toward the door. Casta tries to stop her; Catra throws her off with a hiss, shoving her away and breaking into a run as soon as she was free. Casta looks back at Glimmer and Bow, who both have tears in her eyes.

“We… told her about Entrapta.” Glimmer scrubs her eyes. Ah. Casta looks back to the hall. Catra has already disappeared.

* * *

 _Running away, just like she always does_.

Shadow Weaver scoffs, shaking her head. At least Catra had learned _one_ thing from her — that her life is forfeit. And the princesses have probably realized it now as well, after losing one of their own trying to save her worthless life.

Now all she has to do is convince Catra to come back on her own.

The sorceress sweeps her hand through air, catching shadows in her fingers and shaping them. Catra is already broken.

She’s just needs a small push over the edge.

* * *

Catra wants to shred the stupid nightgown she’s in. It’s too soft and too white and she hates it, _despises_ it. She just wants her own clothes back, her uniform, her security.

 _Entrapta is dead. Entrapta died because of you. Entrapta is dead because you tricked a bunch of people into believing you’re worth something_.

She curls her fingers in her hair, squeezing her eyes shut. She has found a way to the highest part of the palace, where no one could easily get to her, unless Glimmer teleported. Catra is hoping they’ll just take a fucking hint for once and leave her _alone_.

A princess is dead because someone thought her life has meaning.

_Well they sure as hell learned their lesson, didn’t they?_

Catra curls up tight, arms wrapping around herself, knees pulled up to her chest, tail becoming a protective barrier between her and the world. If she curls up small enough, maybe she can disappear. Maybe she can take back every decision that put Entrapta in that vent. Maybe she can fix all of this.

_Worthless. Useless._

A chill runs up her spine and through her body, as if a cold blanket has been draped over her. _It’s all your fault_. It feels like a whisper in her ear. Sounds like Shadow Weaver’s constant, hissing reminders. _Why would anyone sacrifice themselves for you? Who could possibly be worth less than you?_

Catra presses her forehead into her knees, tears filling her eyes. _That princess would still be alive if it wasn’t for you. What are you doing here? You don’t deserve this treatment. This kindness. You have no place here._

“Shut up,” Catra whispers. “Shut up, shut up, shut up.”

Ghostly fingers caress cheek. She screams, springing up and whirling around. She has just enough time to see she’s alone before she slips.

She’s disoriented as she tumbles, first looking to find something to grab, then realizing there’s a balcony coming up toward her _far too fast_.

_Shit, shit, shit!_

She twists herself, managing to land on the balls of her feet and tucking her body in, rolling into a more controlled fall. Controlled enough that she at least doesn’t fall headfirst. She still rolls into the railing of the balcony. Her entire upper body aches, and she groans, uncurling and rolling to lie on her back. _Fuck_.

“Catra!” Glimmer appears over her, wide-eyed. “Are you okay? Oh, hang on.” She disappears and reappears a moment later, this time with her aunt. “What happened?”

“I was up there and I slipped.” Catra gestures vaguely toward the roof of the palace, forcing her arms to move and pushing herself up on her elbows.

“Are you okay?” Casta kneels to help her up. “Did you hit your head?”

“Nah.” Catra groans a little, sitting up and carefully flexing parts of her body. “I’m a cat. I know how to fall.”

“Helpful, but you probably shouldn’t be falling.”

“It wasn’t my first choice, either.” Catra rubs the back of her head. Now she’s torn between embarrassment and her anger. She stands, stepping away from Casta. “I’m fine. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“Catra, please,” Glimmer says quietly, reaching for her. She freezes when Catra flinches away. “Will you at least come back inside? Bow and I will leave you alone if you really want.”

 _What’s in there for you?_ The voice is in her ear again. _Disappointment? Pain? You don’t belong here. You never did_.

“C-Can’t we just go back to Bright Moon? I’m fine, and I’d kind of like my own clothes back, ya know?”

“I’d like you to stay at least one more night,” Casta says gently. “Magic that messes with the mind can be tricky. I’d rather you be nearby just in case.”

“I’m _fine_.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“Just one more night,” Glimmer insists. “I’ll go back to Bright Moon and get clothes for you, if you really want.

“I…” Catra sighs, giving in. “ _Fine_. One more night.”

* * *

“Uh… Adora?”

Adora supposes she _does_ look rather strange, crouched on the floor with her ear pressed to the wall near a vent. Scorpia has every right to be confused. “Shush,” Adora says, eyes narrowing. But the sound is gone.

“Is… Is everything okay?” Scorpia looks around before lowering her voice. “Is this about that thing we talked about?”

“No.” Adora pushes herself up, dusting her jacket off. “I swear I hear someone moving in the vents.”

“Maybe it’s just workers? That water princess did a _lot_ of damage.”

“We’re on a completely different floor. And I’ve been hearing it _everywhere_.” Adora continues down the hall, Scorpia jogging to catch up with her.

“Rats?”

“Have you ever seen rodents in the Fright Zone?”

“Mmm, no actually.”

“You know why?” Scorpia shakes her head. “Because Catra went through a phase when we were like, five where she just hunted every single one of them down. It’s been fifteen years and I don’t know what happened, but they all seemed to get the hint not to come back here.”

“That’s… impressive.”

Adora freezes, holding up a hand when she hears the noise again. Something soft brushing against metal. Scorpia stops and looks around, trying to hear what Adora is hearing. “Yup that is um… that is definitely some silence…”

The sound stops again, this time in front of a vent grate. Adora kneels slowly, prying it off…

And out tumbles a very small woman with hair longer than her body and a mask on her head. She looks around, blinking, then at Adora and Scorpia, and waves. “Hiiiii!”

Adora and Scorpia exchange bewildered looks. “Um… hello?” She looks familiar…

_“Entrapta,” she hears Catra saying as she climbs the stairs. “Do me a favor and find somewhere else to observe from.”_

_“Huh? Why?” Adora steps onto the landing, taking in Catra, then the woman beside her, who quickly waves before scuddling off._

“You were at the princess prom,” Adora says.

“So were you. You threw Catra off the balcony. I have the recording from it.”

Her hair reaches into the pocket of her suspenders, producing a recorder and hitting rewind, then play. “ _Prom, hour two, fifty-seven minutes. Catra sent me away to confront her blonde Horde friend — former friend? I’ll have to ask later. There’s a dance beginning below. Glimmer looks upset. I wonder what—”_

Her voice is cut off by a distant yell. _“Oh, the Horde friend threw Catra over the balcony! Oh, but she’s okay, she’s okay. I wonder if it’s true that cats always land on their feet. Further questioning and possible experimenting is required_.”

The hair hits stop, and Entrapta smiles. Adora rubs the back of her head, bewildered. Oh boy.

* * *

 _Worthless bother. Waste. They lost a princess for_ you _. What kind of trade is that?_

Catra curls up tight in her bed, pillow clasped over head, trying to drown out the voice. Maybe this is what it’s like to go insane. Maybe she’s finally snapped. Maybe Shadow Weaver really did break something.

 _The only good you’ve ever served is taking hits for someone else_.

“Shut up,” she growls through her teeth.

_Second best._

“Shut _up_.”

 _Inferior_.

“ _Shut up_!”

She bolts upright, throwing her pillow across the room. The air is warm, but she can’t stop shivering. She’s broken, she thinks numbly as she looks around. It took twenty years but she’s finally broken.

 _Useless_ , the voice hisses. Catra grabs the mask from her nightstand and vaults off the bed. She needs to walk. She needs to think. Glimmer had gotten some of her stuff, so Catra at least has her tank top and shorts to walk around in. It’s more comfortable than that nightgown. More familiar.

The halls are illuminated by moonlight and empty as Catra walks down them. Her eyes are fixed on the mask gripped in her hands.

“ _The sword and the mask utilize the power, allowing the chosen person to transform into the legendary princess, She-Ra._ ”

The universe made a mistake, clearly. Is it her fault for finding the mask? If it had just stayed hidden in that box, maybe this never would have happened. She never would have left the Fright Zone. She never would have met Glimmer and Bow.

Entrapta would still be alive.

_All you do is hurt people. Do you ever think there was a reason you grew up in the Fright Zone, away from people you could harm?_

Entrapta is dead. Catra had endangered the entire kingdom just by existing and going to that stupid prom. Adora has spiraled down a path Catra can’t begin to fathom, more aligned with Shadow Weaver than ever, because Catra hadn’t been there to stop her. Glimmer and Bow and the princesses they had recruited all put their lives in dangerous to save Catra’s worthless life. And Entrapta is dead.

 _How could you ever believe you were meant for greater things? You’re nothing. You’ve been running around playing hero, and look what happened_.

The cool edges of the metal mask are biting into Catra’s hands as she grips it tight. This is all her fault. She was never meant for this life. Never meant to find that sword. To find this mask. None of it is for her.

 _Adora would know what to do. This should all be Adora’s. Not mine_.

She turns down a hall of statues, walking without much care until one catches her eye — a woman with her face half hidden under a cloth mask. There’s nothing to identify her, but Catra knows she’s looking at Light Spinner. She can practically _feel_ the judgement rolling off the stone version of the vile woman who had raised her.

 _You don’t belong here. You’re full of nothing but anger and hatred. Just like I raised you_. Shadows swirl at Catra’s feet. She shivers, hugging the mask to her chest. _You can’t escape the truth, Catra. You can’t escape who you really are. You were never meant to be a hero. The Fright Zone is the only place you belong. It’s the only place that will keep the rest of the world safe from you._

The attack on Thaymor had been moved because Catra had been there. Plumeria had almost been wiped out because Catra had been stupid and barreled ahead without a plan. Salineas had nearly been destroyed because, again, Catra was _there_. The princess prom had been ruined, countless people put in danger, because _Catra was there_. Entrapta had died saving Catra’s worthless life.

Catra leans against the wall across from Light Spinner’s statue and slides down it, shivering harder. Shadows move in front of her, becoming an outline she recognizes, red eyes glowing in the gloom. She isn’t even surprised to see it. Just resigned.

 _Shadow Weaver_.

“You can’t escape the truth, Catra. You’re not a hero. You’re a harbinger of chaos. Nothing good will ever follow you.” Catra stares up at her, too numb to react. “Come home. The Fright Zone is the only place you belong.”

Catra is frozen. She should speak, should say _something_ , she should defend herself. But she can’t. It’s all true. She’s nothing. She’s worthless. She doesn’t belong here, in this peaceful place where she could only cause pain, with people she had already hurt.

The shadowy figure reaches a hand out, speaking in an almost motherly tone. “Come home. You’ll be safe. And Adora misses you.” There’s a tight knot in Catra’s chest, making it hard to breathe. “Don’t you want to see her?”

 _Yes_. It doesn’t hit until Shadow Weaver says it, but all she wants right then is to see Adora, to be held by her, for things to just go back to _normal_. No more princesses, no more magic, no more _heroes_. Just her and Adora, and their dreams.

_“You and me, right? Together at the end of the world.”_

_“Yeah. You and me.”_

_They exchange grins_.

She’s not strong enough for this. She never has been. She’s been pretending. And it’s exhausting.

Her arm is slowly unfurling, reaching for the shadowy hand. She’s tired. She wants to go home.

 _Home_. Where is that, exactly? The Fright Zone? That’s never been home. She’s only ever been hurt there, looked down on, mocked, abused. Her hand freezes halfway toward the other hand, shaking. The Fright Zone has _never_ been home. She’ll never be safe there.

“Catra.” The shadow sounds impatient. “Come along, now. It’s time to go home.”

“You’re not home.” Her voice is small. The red eyes narrowed.

“What?”

“You’re. Not. Home.” Catra pulls her hand away and presses it against the wall behind her, slowly pushing herself up. “All you’ve ever done is hurt me. You never cared about me. You still don’t. You just want the mask. You’re using me, just like you always do.”

“You know your place in the world,” the shadow snarls, seeming to grow. “I’ve only ever treated you the way you deserved.”

“No. _No_.” Catra braces herself, fingers tightening around the mask. “I deserve better than _you_. Everyone deserves better than you. All you’ve ever done is abuse us, even your precious golden child. I was a dumb kid you hated just for _existing_. You tortured me every single day of my life.”

The shadow definitely grows, looming over her, surrounding her in a familiar way. Catra is breathing fast, just on the verge of hyperventilating. “I _never_ deserved anything you did to me! You’re just horrible, you always have been! It doesn’t matter what stupid name you hide behind, it doesn’t matter if you’re Light Spinner or Shadow Weaver, you’re still the same terrible person!”

“Insolent _brat_!” The shadow raises a clawed hand, swiping it down toward Catra. She closes her eyes, waiting for the blow…

Instead, she hears a howl, and her eyes snap open again. A golden aura has surrounded her body, the mask shining bright — a beacon in this miserable, shadowy hell. But it’s more, she realizes as she examines herself. _She_ is glowing, lit by the mask clenched in her hand.

“You worthless little—”

“ _Shut up_!” The golden light flares; the shadow recoils with a screech. “I don’t _care_ what you think, or what you say. All you do is hurt me! I never deserved it!”

They’ve attracted attention by this point — Glimmer, Bow, Castaspella, and a few of the palace acolytes come around a nearby corner, all stopping in shock when they see the spreading shadows and the light in the middle of it. “You’ll get me back over my dead body. And good luck explaining that Adora. Now leave me _alone_!”

The last word is accented by a blinding burst of light. Everyone covers their eyes as a ghostly shriek echoes around them.

The hall is empty when the light fades, save for Catra, pressed against the wall, breathing heavily. The mask slips from her fingers, clanging against the floor. She follows it, sliding down the wall once more.

“Catra!”

Bow and Glimmer run to their friend, kneeling on either side of her. “Are you okay? Did she hurt you?”

“We shouldn’t have left you alone. We’re so sorry!”

The warm bodies press against Catra — a stark contrast to the cold that’s seeped into her bones. The kind words are at odds with everything Shadow Weaver had just spit at her. Tears fill her eyes, slipping over before she can stop them.

Two sets of arms are immediately around her, Glimmer and Bow echoing that it’s okay, everything is okay, she’s safe. She shakily raises her hand to take one arm for each of them, curling into the embrace.

And she cries. She cries for all the times she had never allowed herself to in the past, when she’d flattened her ears and rode out the tirade of abuse. She cries for Adora, selfishly wishing her friend was _here_ and not trapped under Shadow Weaver’s thumb, fighting on the wrong side of a war that would horrify her if she realized the truth.

She cries for Entrapta, who had never been anything but kind, if not a little odd. Entrapta, who found a robot in the Fright Zone designed to kill, and reprogrammed it to be her friend. Entrapta, who had gone back for the robot the way anyone else would a living person, because that’s who she was.

She cries until there’s nothing left except aching eyes, a headache, and soft hiccoughs as she tries to recover. Glimmer and Bow never loosen their grip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next episode: Catra goes berry picking


	11. Berry Picking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Hey, does this place have something to do with the First Ones?”_
> 
> _No answer. Catra looks around, confused then yelps when she sees the crazy old woman climbing up the building. “What are you doing?!” she shrieks, tail puffing up._
> 
> _“This is the best place to pick fresh berries!”_
> 
> _“Are you out of your mind?!”_
> 
> _This weirdo is going to fall and break a hip or die and someone is going to find Catra with her dead body and assume she killed her._
> 
> _“You worry too much, Mara!” Razz is laughing as she fills her basket off the vine climbing up the structure, and begins to slide down._
> 
> _“I’m not Mara! And I think I’m pretty much the right amount of worried!”_

“How’s our um… guest?”

“Weird. Very, very weird.”

Scorpia had been standing guard all night while Adora tried to figure out what to do with Entrapta. They had given her a few things to tinker with after realizing she wanted to borrow some of Scorpia’s poison to experiment with.

“What did Shadow Weaver and Lord Hordak say?”

“Can’t find Shadow Weaver. Lord Hordak said to find out whatever we can about the rebellion from her.” They look back at Entrapta, who’s taken the four or five little gadgets they had given her and built one… well, they’re not sure exactly what it is. “Uh… whatcha got there, princess?”

“I’m not sure yet.” She turns it over, curious. “It’s either a bomb or it’ll project pretty lights when I turn it on.”

Scorpia and Adora exchange looks. “Okay, well… can you maybe put that down for a minute? We have a few questions, and we need answers.”

Entrapta looks up, surprised. “Oh. Okay. What do you want to know?”

“Tell us what the rebellion is planning.”

“I’m not really sure there’s a _plan_?” Entrapta tilts her head. “Glimmer’s just been collecting people for the new Princess Alliance. There aren’t even that many of us.”

Adora raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean? I was at that party. There were a _ton_ of princesses.”

“Yeah, but most of them are worried about their own kingdom, not fighting the Horde.”

“Then how big _is_ the rebellion, exactly?” Adora asks cautiously.

“Well there’s me, Glimmer, Bow, Catra—” Adora bristles, “Mermista, Perfuma, and the Bright Moon army. It’s not that big.”

“Why don’t the other princesses want to be a part of it?”

“Not sure. From what I’ve heard, the first princess alliance fell apart years ago, and no one ever tried to put it back together until now.”

“Then that means…” Adora frowns, eyebrows furrowing, “the rebellion is nothing. If we could get passed the woods…”

“You could probably wipe out Bright Moon, yeah.” Entrapta shrugs.

“So… what are you doing here?” Scorpia asks, tilting her head.

“I got left behind. But it’s fine, my friends will come back for me! That’s why I stayed here. I wanted to make it easier to find me.”

“They left you?” Adora asks.

“No, no!” Entrapta says quickly, smiling. “It was an accident! But they’ll be back for me.”

“Do you… really think that?” Adora asks uncertainly. “How long has it been?”

“Um…” Entrapta’s hair holds up her recorder again, tapping a few buttons, then hitting play.

“ _Fright Zone log, hour forty-four. I’ve sent Emily to get food for me. I hope it’s tiny. My secret life in the ventilation systems has led to some amazing breakthroughs, but I must be more careful. I think the blonde Force Captain knows I’m here_.”

“Forty-four hours.” Entrapta lowers the the recorder, her face falling.

“How long ago was that?”

“I… I don’t know. Time is hard in the walls.” The poor girl seems to wilt, curling in on herself. Adora kneels to be eye level with her.

“You’re not like them, are you? Those princesses… they just take what they need and throw everything else away. You helped them take Catra back, and they left you behind.”

“I…” Tears fill Entrapta’s eyes.

“We don’t throw people away here. And imagine what you could do with all this technology.”

Entrapta looks up, thinking. “I’ve made more progress on my work in secret here than I did in a whole non-secret life out there. They should see. Horde technology gives me _so much_ to work with. Emily’s the most advanced bot I’ve ever built.”

“See?” Adora stands, offering Entrapta a hand. “You could be — wait, who’s Emily?”

“Oh!” Entrapta takes Adora’s hand and stands. “How rude, let me introduce you.”

She claps twice. The wall explodes, and Scorpia quickly grabs Adora, saying, “Ah, I got you, I got you!”

A robot rolls into the room, up to Entrapta. She smiles, patting its head. Adora and Scorpia stare, blinking.

“Oh… kay then.”

* * *

“Catra?”

Glimmer knocks on the door, poking her head in. “You ready to go?”

The other girl is sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at her mask. She looks up at the sound of Glimmer’s voice, quickly schooling her expression into something more apathetic as she stood.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m good. Let’s get out of here.”

She doesn’t put the mask on. Glimmer doesn’t comment.

Bow is waiting in the hall with Castaspella, who immediately sweeps her niece into a hug. “Come back and visit soon! I don’t see you enough.”

“I will, Auntie, I promise.” Glimmer says patiently, hugging her back.

“Thank you for everything,” Catra adds quietly. Casta nods.

“Of course. It’s what I’m here for. If you change your mind about wanting help, don’t hesitate to let me know.”

“Yeah.” She will _not_ change her mind.

Bow wraps an arm around Catra’s shoulders, hugging her; Glimmer takes her hand, and they disappear in a shower of sparkles. Bow’s arm keeps Catra from buckling when they appear in Bright Moon.

“I hate that so much,” she groans, squeezing her eyes shut.

“It really isn’t getting easier, is it?”

“Ah, you’re back.”

Angella is smiling as she makes her down the stairs. Her first order of business, of course, is to sweep Glimmer into a hug. “Mooooooooooom,” Glimmer groans, indulging for a minute before teleporting away. Angella sighs.

“You used to love me.” She shakes her head before looking at Catra, who’s steadying herself. “And how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” Catra says quickly, shifting her hand to hide the mask behind her back, like that’ll do any good. “Tired. I think I’m just gonna lie down.”

“You should eat something,” Bow says. He can’t recall her eating since those few pieces of fruit.

“I’m not hungry. I’ll get something later.”

She disappears up the stairs before anyone can say another word. “I… don’t think she’s okay,” Bow says after a minute.

“I believe you’re right,” Angella agrees quietly. “Let’s give her some time. We can check in later.”

Catra sighs, closing herself in her room, and collapses into a heap against the door. She’s tired. Everything hurts. The world doesn’t feel right. She looks at the mask in her hand, then at the sword that’s been sitting in the corner for the two months that have passed since she came here.

“ _You’ve been chosen as Etheria’s hero, whether you believe it or not. It may be hard, but you must embrace it._ ”

She tosses the mask to join the sword and stands, walking to the balcony. She can’t do this. She can’t be here. The deal had been she could stay if she she was willing to be this hero. And even if she wanted to, _willingness_ has nothing to do with it. She’s not a hero. Never has been, never will be. She just stole someone else’s destiny.

Maybe Glimmer and Bow can wander back into the woods to find _that_ person.

She looks over the balcony for a moment, eyes tracing a path down, then jumps, landing on a balcony a floor below, then another, until she’s on the ground and running. She’s not sure where she’s going. She doesn’t _care_. Anywhere is better than here.

The treeline seems to open for Catra as she approaches it. The Whispering Woods. Why not. This is where it had started, after all.

She doesn’t even slow as she disappears into the forest.

* * *

“What is _this_?”

Adora looks away from Entrapta, seeing Shadow Weaver standing next to her. “A new recruit,” she says simply.

“That’s one of the princesses.”

“Yup. She got left behind when the others took Catra, and they didn’t come back for her. She’s been living in the vents for two days.”

“And why isn’t she in a jail cell now?” Shadow Weaver’s voice is dangerously calm. Adora knows that tone. She usually reserves it for Catra.

“Lord Hordak told me to get information from her, and she was more than happy to give it. And since the others abandoned her, she was open to the idea of setting up here and making the Fright Zone her new home. Lord Hordak agreed she could have a lab since she cooperated with us so easily.”

“I didn’t realize we were allowing princesses to take residence here now.”

“She’s different.” Adora shrugs. “She doesn’t have a magic. Although I’m not _entirely_ sure what her hair is.”

They watch as said hair lifts a few boxes while Entrapta’s hands dig through another box, looking to see what junk they can work with. “Lord Hordak entrusted her to me. Do you think I can’t handle her?” Adora asks after a moment. She can _feel_ the suspicion rolling off Shadow Weaver.

“I’m not sure what to think of this, Adora. I just hope you haven’t forgotten your objective.”

“Of course not, Shadow Weaver. I’m completely focused.”

“Good.” Something explodes, and they jump, looking back at Entrapta. “Keep her under control.”

“Yes ma’am.”

* * *

“Catra?” Glimmer knocks, slowly opening the door. “I’m sorry, I know you want to rest, I just wanted… to…”

Her voice drifts off when she looks around the room, realizing it’s empty. “Catra?” She teleports to the bathroom. The door is open, the room empty. Back to the main room, looking for any sign of the girl. She can’t have left. She wouldn’t. Right?

Then Glimmer sees the mask in the corner with the sword, and feels the color drain from her face.

She’s gone.

* * *

Catra isn’t sure how long she runs before her legs finally give out, sending her crashing the forest ground. She’s still not entirely recovered from what Shadow Weaver did, and it’s frustrating, because she _knows_ she could have gone further than this. Her stamina just isn’t back to where it should be.

She pushes herself up to crawl and lean against a tree, breathing heavily. _Okay, you’ve run away. Now what, genius? You can’t go back to the Fright Zone. You can’t go back to Bright Moon. You’re screwed._

Yes, she is. She rests her forehead against her knees, sighing. She’s screwed all around. She can probably survive in the woods, she thinks. There has to be edible food around here. She can survive on her own. She doesn’t need the Horde or the Rebellion.

A shuffle of noise reaches her ears. “Hm?” A thin, reedy voice says. “Did you hear something? Yes, I did, too.” The voice raises. “Who’s there?!”

Catra shoots up, looking around, claws beared. She’s not sure what she’s expecting, but an old woman with wild white hair, glasses that magnify her eyes, butterflies fluttering about her head, and a broom definitely isn’t it.

“Uh…” Catra tilts her head, blinking a few times.

“Oh, Mara, dearie! Is that you?” The woman sounds delighted. “About time you got here. Come on now, there’s no time to waste. Let’s get going.”

“What…?”

Catra follows, bewildered. “Um… I’m sorry, but I think you’re confused.” They emerge from the bushes, and Catra is stunned to see a small hut. “Do you _live_ here?”

The woman chuckles. “Who’s confused, dearie? Come along, we made plans to go berry-picking today.”

“Hey, are your glasses broken?” Catra demands, annoyed. “I think you’re a little mixed up. I don’t know who you are.”

The woman pauses, squinting her eyes and looking Catra up and down. “No, you don’t know Madame Razz, do you? You’re not quite the same. This is the wrong time for my Mara, isn’t it? You have something more. You haven’t accepted the sword yet.”

Catra is bewildered now. “What?”

“Ah!” The woman — Razz? — waves Catra off. “Well, never mind. You’re here now, and there’re still berries to be picked.”

She picks up two baskets and shuffles into the woods. Catra looks around before following again. “Did… Did you say something about a sword? Do you know about it?”

The woman chuckles. “Don’t ask such silly questions, Mara. You know you bring that sword around here all the time.”

“Hey, lady, I’m not—” Catra pauses and sighs, shaking her head. “Okay. Do you just live here alone?”

“Alone? Me?” Razz laughs. “Oh, no! I’m not alone! I’ve got Broom here.” She waves the broom around. “And my friend Look-Kee, too! But he’s always hiding.”

Catra runs a hand through her hair, shaking her head slowly. “She’s got imaginary friends. Great.”

She follows Razz for until they come out in front of a large, crystal building. Catra stops, wide-eyed.

“Whoa.”

“Ah! Here we are.” Razz is completely unperturbed as she starts toward the structure. Catra scans the building, and realizes she recognizes the writing.

“Hey, does this place have something to do with the First Ones?”

No answer. Catra looks around, confused then yelps when she sees the crazy old woman climbing up the building. “What are you _doing_?!” she shrieks, tail puffing up.

“This is the best place to pick fresh berries!”

“Are you out of your _mind_?!”

This weirdo is going to fall and break a hip or _die_ and someone is going to find Catra with her dead body and assume she killed her.

“You worry too much, Mara!” Razz is laughing as she fills her basket off the vine climbing up the structure, and begins to slide down.

“I’m not Mara! And I think I’m pretty much the right amount of worried!”

Another laugh as the woman touches the ground again, giving Catra a fond look. “We used to come here to look at the stars.” Catra blinks a few times, caught off guard. “Do you remember, Mara? They’re all gone now. What happened to the stars?”

“I… I told you I’m not Mara, is something wrong with your hearing?” Catra asks impatiently. “I don’t know anything about stars, or berries, or _you_ , or…”

Her voice drifts off as the woman steps closer, looking up at her with an odd, unreadable gaze. Catra feels weird, as if she’s being put through some machine. “No, you’re not my Mara, are you?” she asks after a moment. “You’re different. The same, but different.”

“What… What does that even mean?” Catra stutters, confused. “Who are you? Why did you bring me here?”

The woman laughs. “Now who has something wrong with her hearing? I told you, I’m Madame Razz, and we’re here to pick berries. Now come on! Your basket is still empty!”

“But—”

Catra cuts off with a yelp as the woman grabs her wrist and drags her off, back into the woods.

* * *

Adora has her face buried in her hands when Scorpia walks in. “This was a mistake,” she groans.

“What was — oh.”

Scorpia looks around the room Entrapta has been given as a lab. There are scorches and dents and cracks in the walls and ceiling that definitely hadn’t been there when they’d moved Entrapta in and given her the box of old junk. Adora isn’t sure what she was expecting. But _this_ certainly isn’t it.

Entrapta is currently hunched over the table, picking apart a stun baton while her robot friend — _Emily_ — hands her tools.

“What is she… doing to that stun baton?”

“I’m afraid to find out.” Adora drags her hands down her face, sighing. “She’s already blown up two of them.”

“Yeah, sorry about that!” Entrapta says cheerfully, popping up and lifting her mask. “I overestimated how much of a charge they could handle. But I think I got this one right.”

“You _think_ —”

Scorpia and Adora yell, jumping to try and save each other as the stun baton discharges a ball of electricity, which flies at them, hitting the wall and exploding. The Force Captains exchange terrified looks. Entrapta looks far too pleased.

“That’s it!” She starts going through her box. “Oh, I think that was the last one. Can I have more?”

Scorpia examines the newest mark left on the wall. It’s still sizzling. “Wow, that is…”

“It’s handy,” Adora says thoughtfully. “A lot of our weapons are close-range, which is inconvenient sometimes. If we could get more stun batons like this, it would give us an advantage.”

“You like it?” Entrapta asks.

“It did kind of almost kill us but… yeah.” Adora looks over her shoulder, smiling at Entrapta. “I like it.”

Scorpia laughs nervously. “I think I’ll stick with my pincers and tail.”

* * *

“How do you move so fast?” Catra said as she walked and tripped over things that Razz seemed to walk through with ease.

“Can’t keep up with one little old lady, dearie?” Razz chuckles. Catra growls.

“Where are you taking me? And _don’t_ say to pick berries!”

“Oooooooh, you have a temper, don’t you? You’re the one following me! You could stop any time.”

That brings Catra up short. “I… I…”

Razz stops to look at her, smiling. “You are so much like my Mara,” she says fondly. “But you have something else. The potential to be more. She truly never had a chance.”

“What do you mean?” Catra asks, her voice soft. “Who’s Mara? What did you mean when you said I haven’t accepted the sword yet? Did… Did Mara have the sword?”

“Oh yes, but that was a long time ago, wasn’t it.” Razz sighs, turning to begin walking again. “But you have something she didn’t.”

“I… what do I have?”

“No berries, certainly. Move along, now!”

Catra groans, covering her face with one hand. “Listen, I don’t care about _berries_. Can you _please_ focus? Who’s Mara?”

“Mara is Mara. You’re not Mara.”

“I _know_ I’m not Mara,” Catra grit out through her teeth. “I’m _trying_ to ask _you_ who Mara _is_. Did she have the sword? She-Ra’s sword?”

“Yes!” Razz sounds delighted. “Oh, she was such a good girl. So strong. So brave.”

“Okay, I am definitely nothing like her.”

“Nonsense.” Razz waves Catra off. She blinks a few times.

“Lady, you don’t know me.”

They step out into a field; Catra freezes when she sees the broken, abandoned Horde machines. “Ah, it’s the same old story, dearie.” Razz sighs. “Wicked people destroy what they can not control.”

“Yeah, I know,” Catra says impatiently. “I know the Horde is terrible. I know they do terrible things. I know they’re bad and awful and the world needs to be saved from them. But I’m not a hero, okay? I’m not… I’m not selfless or noble or brave or strong or any of those things. I can’t be She-Ra or whatever. The universe fucked up. It wanted someone like Adora, but it got _me_ instead. It got second best. It got the worthless screw up, the sidekick, the idiot, it got _me_!”

She isn’t sure when she started yelling. But those last words echo through across the field, joining the ghosts of a battle long passed. Razz just watches her, an almost sad look in her gaze.

“The universe doesn’t make mistakes, dearie. If you have the sword, then you are the one meant for it.”

“ _How_?” Catra’s voice is desperate. “How am _I_ the one who gets all of this? How am _I_ good enough for it? I’m not… I’m not any of those things you said.” She sinks to her knees, ducking her head to hide the tears threatening to fall. “I’m chaos. I hurt people.”

A gentle hand pats her head. “Oh, dearie, that’s not true. That’s the shadows whispering in your ear.”

The shadows would know, wouldn’t they? They were the ones who had made her those things.

Catra opens her mouth to say something, but all that comes out is a small sob. She tries to smother it, humiliated that she would break down crying in front of a stranger, but she’s spent.

“There there, dearie.” A surprisingly strong hand helps Catra stand. “Come along. I know just what to do.”

* * *

“She’s never coming back.”

Angella smooths Glimmer’s hair back, sighing. “This has all been a lot for her,” she says. She doesn’t want to give Glimmer hope or say _it’ll be okay_ , because it might not be. Catra might not come back. The fact that she abandoned the sword _and_ her mask doesn’t bode well.

Glimmer scrubs her eyes, sighing. “I’m sorry, Mom. I know you were depending on my word to trust her.”

“You did nothing wrong.” Glimmer looks up, meeting her mother’s sympathetic gaze. “Catra has done a lot for us and for other kingdoms. This was something she never asked for, however. It’s not surprising for her to be a little overwhelmed.”

“Yeah.” Glimmer looks out at the darkening sky. She wants to look for Catra, but she probably went into the Whispering Woods. Finding her would be impossible.

And maybe she doesn’t want to come back.

“What now?” she asks quietly. “Catra’s gone, the Princess Alliance is dead again, Entrapta is…”

They’re right back where they started. And that kills her.

“I’m not sure,” Angella admits. She knows, after a few victories, that Glimmer will never give up now. She’s stubborn and determined. Just like her father.

But she doesn’t see a way forward now, when they’ve been set back so far.

She kisses Glimmer’s forehead, sighing faintly. “We’ll think of something, Glimmer.”

It feels like a lie. It _is_ a lie. They’d allowed themselves to hope, perhaps, that they could turn the tide of the war. They had put their hopes on the fragile shoulders of an abused girl, and she had snapped under the pressure.

“ _Why are children fighting this war, Angella?_ ”

Angella hadn’t had an answer for Casta. Not one she wanted to admit. Children are fighting this war because she’s been a coward for so long. It had only been a matter of time before someone got hurt because of her.

 _Micah would be ashamed_.

* * *

Catra jumps when a mug of tea appears in front of her. “Drink up, dearie,” Razz says cheerfully. “It’s Madame Razz’ special blend.”

That sounds vaguely threatening, but Catra can’t find it in herself to care. She takes the mug and sips. It’s bitter, with a bit of a weird tang, and Catra wonders if this is where those berries ended up.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” Razz sounds proud of herself.

“Yeah,” Catra murmurs, taking another sip. “It’s good.”

They sit in silence for a while, save for Razz sweeping the forest floor. “Who _are_ you?” Catra finally asks, looking up.

“I told you dearie, I’m Madame Razz.”

“That… isn’t an answer.”

Razz just hums, turning back to her work. Catra shakes her head, taking another sip of the tea. It’s already half gone, somehow. “So you just… live here?”

“Yes indeed,” Razz sings. “These woods are my home.”

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Not at all! The woods like Madame Razz. They treat me well.”

“You’re the only one,” Catra mutters, remembering the last time she had been here. She yelps when the broom comes down on her head. “Hey! What the hell?!”

“The woods always lead you where you need to go,” Razz says sharply, going back to her sweeping. “Even if you don’t like the destination.”

Catra looks back at the tea, taking a sip. _Even if you don’t like the destination_. The woods had led her to the sword. To Glimmer and Bow. To Thaymor. To Razz.

She tilts the mug back, finishing it off. “Very good, very good,” Razz says. “Is the fog gone?”

“Huh?” Catra asks blankly. Razz taps a thin finger against Catra’s forehead.

“The fog, dearie.” Catra blinks, still not understanding. “The shadows consuming your mind.”

“What are you — did you drug me?!” Catra jerks away, dropping the mug.

“Of course not!” Razz sounds offended. “Tea helps clear the mind!”

“That doesn’t—!”

Catra stops, narrowing her eyes. Actually… she _does_ feel better. She can think straight for the first time in days. Her entire body feels lighter. It doesn’t hurt to breathe.

“I…” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “I think I have to go.”

The forest will lead you,” Razz says simply, turning back to go into her hut. “Safe travels, Catra.”

“Yeah, thank — wait.” Catra stops to stare at the old woman’s back. “I never told you my name.”

Razz laughs. “Don’t be silly, dearie, of course you did! Years ago, don’t you remember? Oh, you were so young and scared…”

Catra stares, mouth hanging open. “You know what. Not asking.”

* * *

The trip back to Bright Moon feels shorter than the run into the woods. It’s almost no time at all before Catra steps out, bathed in the moonlight and the light of the runestone. She looks up at the giant white gem, a small smile pulling at her lips. The sight of it feels more like home than the Fright Zone ever had.

She easily scales the castle, jumping back into her room. The mask and sword are right where she left them. She takes a deep breath and walks over, kneeling first to secure the mask back where it belonged, framing her face.

Then she reaches slowly for the sword. Light consumes her vision, blinding her for a moment, before fading. She’s standing in a room with what she recognizes as First One writing on the walls, bathed in purple light.

“Hello, Catra.”

Catra snaps around, eyes wide. A woman is stepping out of a column of light, except… it’s definitely not a woman. Catra’s ears twitch. “Who are you?”

“My name is Light Hope.” That’s not really an answer, Catra thinks. “I have been waiting a long time for you, but I could not reach you until you forged your connection with the sword.”

“The sword…?” Catra looks around, realizing the sword is gone. “Wait, what do you mean you’ve been waiting for _me_?”

“You were chosen many years ago, but I could not get the sword to you at that time.”

“ _I_ was chosen?” That definitely doesn’t make any sense. “You mean because I found the mask?”

“The mask found you,” the woman corrects. “And registered you as the one meant for the sword.”

“It was in a _box_ in the Fright Zone! That doesn’t make any sense!”

“You had been chosen long before that.” The words catch Catra off guard. “But the shadows sought to separate you from your destiny.”

“The shadows…?”

The words pinged something in the back of Catra’s mind — a long lost memory, from a time, from a place that no longer exists. Small hands reaching for a glowing beacon…

“Etheria has need of you, Catra. Will you answer its call? Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?”

Catra shakes off the images even as they slips away, and looks up at the woman — Light Hope. _Will you fight?_

“Yes,” she says quietly. This is insane, she’s lost her mind, she’s not a hero, she can’t do this. “Yes,” she says again, a little louder.

“Very good,” Light Hope says, and Catra is once again blinded by a flash of light. She becomes aware of herself once again, in her room in Bright Moon, holding the sword. She yelps, dropping the sword as she jumps back, falling over. The glow of the mask fades from her peripheral vision.

There’s no time to recover before a burst of sparkles appears in the middle of the room. “Who’s there?!” Glimmer demands, already prepared to fight. She drops her hands when she sees Catra on the floor. “C-Catra?”

“Yeah.” She pushes herself up, rolling her shoulders. “Hey, Sparkles.”

A beat of silence passes. Then Glimmer disappears, reappearing right in front of Catra and tackling her. “You’re _back_!”

Catra stumbles, catching Glimmer with a small laugh and returning the hug. “Yeah. Guess I am.”

Glimmer hugs her tight before pulling back, anxiety clear in her eyes. “Are you… okay?”

It isn’t hard to catch her gaze flicking up to the mask. “Sorta,” Catra says. “I will be. I just… needed to clear my head.”

And go on an adventure with a crazy lady. Weird how that isn’t even the weirdest part of her day.


	12. Loving and Fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To say Shadow Weaver’s had a hard month is an understatement.
> 
> Being defeated by a bunch of princesses is, by far, the most humiliating defeat she’s ever suffered. Followed very closely by Catra overpowering her shadow magic in Mystacor. When had that _brat_ gotten so powerful? And she hasn’t left Bright Moon since returning there. Hiding like a coward. But Shadow Weaver will flush her out one way or—
> 
> “ _Adora_? What is this?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that the chapter count has officially changed to 20 :D I've decided to keep season one and two in one story (this one), start another one for seasons 3 and 4, and then season 5 on its own. I have no idea what they'll be called yet, but like this one, they'll probably be from songs I like.

“Maybe there’s a codeword or something.”

“Oh, what about… _sword transformation activate!_ ”

Catra raises an eyebrow at Bow. “I’m not saying that.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Catra sighs heavily, raising the sword above her head. “Sword transformation activate.”

Unsurprisingly, nothing happens. “Oof,” Bow says, wincing. “You’re right, that was pretty bad.”

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh!” Catra drops the sword and falls back on the grass, staring at the sky. “What good is a magic sword if I have no idea how to make it work?”

“You can still stab stuff with it,” Glimmer points out. “It looks very pointy.”

Catra drags herself up, sighing. “Yeah, I guess. I don’t _get it_. The mask works just fine without me trying.”

“Maybe there’s something different about the sword.” Glimmer and Bow crawl over to join her. “The mask reacts to your emotions, doesn’t it? Maybe the sword needs something else to activate.”

“Hm.” Catra hums, examining the sword, then holds up. “Maybe if I just wish really hard…”

No luck. She’s not sure why she expected any different.

“I’m _bored_.” Catra sighs, dropping her arm back to her side and sitting up. “Someone fight me.”

“Um, what?” Bow raises an eyebrow.

“Fight. Punch at each other. Sparring. Do you guys do _any_ training around here?”

“Not usually with our fists at each other, no.”

“I’ll punch you!” Glimmer says enthusiastically, jumping up.

“You probably shouldn’t sound so excited about that…”

Bow sighs, his voice drifting off as, Catra joins Glimmer. “Gotta catch me first,” she teases, taking off. Glimmer immediately disappears. Bow thinks this will be a quick fight — Glimmer doesn’t know how to punch very well, but she can probably outpace Catra, right?

As it turns out, no. Glimmer appears, and Catra, to Bow’s surprise, dodges. Glimmer looks just as stunned. “Don’t depend on magic for everything, Sparkles,” Catra says with a smirk, gently hitting Glimmer’s shoulder.

“How’d you do that?”

Catra taps her ears. “Magic has sound. And smells. You sound like Perfuma’s windchimes. It’s only a second of warning, but every second counts in a fight.”

Glimmer frowns and disappears again. Catra listens, then whirls to look at the spot where Glimmer appears, about ten feet away. She disappears again, and again Catra finds her.

“Seriously?”

Catra laughs. “You can’t move faster than sound, Sparkles.”

This time Glimmer lunges as she teleports; Catra whirls right before she appears, but isn’t fast enough to block Glimmer as she tackles her, and they both tumble to the ground. “I win!” Glimmer announces. She has Catra pinned. Or, more likely, Catra just isn’t kicking her off because it isn’t a serious fight.

“Please, I let you hit me.”

“Shut _up_!” Glimmer laughs, shoving Catra into the ground. Catra responds by pushing Glimmer off of her. Bow walks over to join them.

“Is this what you and Adora used to do for fun?” The question is asked with a smile, but Catra’s expression twitches, lips twisting into a bitter look as she sits up, running her hand through her hair. “Um, sorry, I—”

“No, it’s fine.” Catra sighs, curling her legs up to her chest. She’s still having a hard time talking about — or thinking about — Adora. “And yeah, sometimes. There isn’t that much to do in the Fright Zone, and you can only play so many rounds of hide and seek.”

Glimmer sits up, resting a hand on Catra’s shoulder. “You miss her, don’t you?”

Catra immediately scoffs. “Of course not! She’s an idiot.” Glimmer and Bow exchange looks behind Catra’s back. “Come on, Arrow Boy, your turn.”

“What — ah!” Bow yelps as Catra swiftly stands and goes at Bow. He barely dodges, turning and running away. “No fair, I don’t do hand-to-hand!”

“Then get out your arrows and start shooting!”

“ _I’m not shooting arrows at you!_ ”

* * *

“Hey Entrapta, do you—”

Adora screams, ducking out of the lab as something flies at her head and hit the door. “Sorry Adora!” Entrapta calls. “I was just working on Emily’s lasers. It’s safe now!”

It’s never safe in that room, but Adora slides in carefully, eyeing the robot in question. Emily beeped several times, and Entrapta patted her happily. “You uh… got a minute?”

“Sure, I’m taking a break.”

She says that as she picks up another project. Adora isn’t entirely sure she even _sleeps_. She’s afraid to ask. “I have a question about the princesses, if you don’t mind.” Entrapta looks up, wide-eyed and curious. “Do you… know how they’re brainwashing Catra?”

“Brainwashing?” Entrapta asks, tilting her head. “Catra doesn’t really act brainwashed. She’s kind of mean sometimes.”

“That… sounds like her,” Adora admits. “But there’s just no way she would betray us. That… shiny princess must have done something to her.”

“Glimmer? She’s definitely not brainwashing anyone. Catra doesn’t even listen to her sometimes. Glimmer told her to behave at the prom and she ended up fighting you.”

That also sounds right for Catra, Adora admits begrudgingly. “But she… she left us. She left _me_.”

Entrapta blinks a few times before her hair picks up her recorder. “After several interactions with Adora and Catra, I feel safe in hypothesizing that they have feelings for each other—”

“Hey!” Adora tries to ignore the blush creeping up her face. “I’m standing right here!”

“Right, sorry.” Entrapta quickly puts the recorder down. “I’m not aware of any brainwashing. Although… she did have an odd reaction to an incident at my castle. I never got a chance to look into it more.”

“What was it?” Adora asks, straightening up.

“Well. I was working with this First One disc, and it infected all of the First One tech in my robots. She seemed sick at the time, but she felt slightly better when she took her mask off. But she’d lost her hearing because Bow used a sonic arrow, so I couldn’t talk to her. It was really interesting. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to ask her more questions. I’ve never met a magicat before, have you? Oh, wait, you know Catra.”

Adora blinks, trying to parse all that information. “So… the mask is messing with her head?”

“I’m not sure. Glimmer said it was connected to a piece of First One tech, but the mask itself was created by magicats, so I guess it was like a residual effect of some kind. As I said, I didn’t get a chance to investigate it further.”

Adora’s starting to tune out. Catra always wears that stupid mask. If they knocked her out and put a spell on it to control her, would she even notice the difference?

 _Shadow Weaver took the mask away when we captured her, though. She still argued_.

After effects, maybe? It’s the only thing that makes sense. And being with Shadow Weaver was already stressing her out. That always puts Catra in a bad mood.

_Or am I just trying to make excuses?_

Adora nods, straightening up. “Great. Thanks, Entrapta.”

Entrapta stops mid-sentence, looking at her in surprise. “Um… sure?”

Her feet carry her to the roof, where she leans against the railing, looking in the direction of the Whispering Woods. The rebellion is basically nothing, from what Entrapta has said. The only thing protecting them is the trees. If they can take those out…

 _Sure, Adora. You’re going to do what Shadow Weaver and Hordak haven’t managed to do in twenty years because, what? You just really want your friend back? Get real_.

She rubs her temples, sighing. She feels like she’s missing something. A piece that will put all of this together and allow her to get what she wants.

Her next stop is the black garnet room, peeking in to see Shadow Weaver standing at her looking glass. “Shadow Weaver?”

“Adora.” Her voice almost sounds motherly as she turns to look at the young force captain. “How are you?”

“I’m good.” Adora walks in, looking around. “Repairs are going well.”

“I want this all done as soon as possible so we can get back to work.” Even with the mask, Adora can feel Shadow Weaver’s eyes looking her up and down. “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all,” Adora says, a little too fast. She’s terrible at lying.

“Still worrying about Catra?”

That’s a convenient excuse. And not a lie. “Yes,” Adora admits, looking around. “I’ve been… talking to Entrapta, and it seems like the rebellion isn’t as big as they want us to believe it is. If we could just find a way through the woods, we could take Bright Moon. And save Catra.”

“And do you have any thoughts?”

“No, ma’am.” Adora’s eyes flick around the room, landing on the Runestone for a brief moment, then back at Shadow Weaver. “I’m just… wondering about a lot of things.”

A hand rests on Adora’s head. She tries not to flinch. “I know you worry, Adora. But try not to overwhelm yourself. There are a lot of things which need your attention as well.”

“I know,” Adora says quietly. “I won’t get distracted. I promise.”

* * *

Catra isn’t completely aware of where she’s walking, but somehow, she knows before she gets there that she’s looking for Angella. And the easiest place to look for her is Micah’s mural.

“Your majesty,” she announces herself quietly, even bowing slightly.

“Catra.” The queen gives her a small smile. “I’m glad to see you. We haven’t had a chance to speak since you came back from Mystacor.”

“Yeah.” Catra rubs the back of her head. “I’m sorry about that, I didn’t mean to just take off, but I…”

“Needed space?” Angella guesses. “You have nothing to apologize for. You’ve had a lot of responsibility thrust upon you at once.”

“I’m… sorry about that, too. I know I haven’t exactly lived up to your expectations.”

That gets Catra a surprised look. “What do you mean?”

“I… haven’t been a great hero. Or a hero at all.”

“Is that so,” Angella muses. “Then who saved Plumeria? And Salineas?”

Cattra’s shoulders hunch up. “Those were flukes.”

“And who lied to my daughter so she wouldn’t worry about two force captains at the Princess Prom?”

“Yeah, and look how that ended,” Catra mutters bitterly. “Entrapta died.”

“And you were taken, and your life was put at risk,” Angella adds. “You seem to be discounting your own experiences quite a bit.”

“That’s not — it doesn’t matter. This was supposed to stay between me and Adora. No one else should have gotten hurt because of it.”

Angella turns fully to look at the girl, then gently steps forward, resting her hands on Catra’s shoulders. Catra flinches slightly, but doesn’t pull away.

“I know you don’t see it, Catra, but you have done so much good for the rebellion, and for Glimmer especially. While I don’t necessarily approve of the methods you’ve all taken to using, your results are undeniable. You’ve given us hope. Something I lost with… well, with Micah.”

Catra looks up at the mural, expression sad. “Castaspella told me about his history with Shadow Weaver. Did he… really turn out okay even with her involved?”

“He rose above her actions,” Angella says simply. “And promised to always be a better person.”

“He was a hero.” Catra sighs. “I don’t know if I can live up to that. To any of this.”

“You’re trying, though.”

“Like that’s enough,” Catra scoffs.

“It’s worth a lot,” Angella chides her. “Seeing you try to overcome everything you’ve gone through and be a better person is enough to bring anyone hope.”

Catra finally looks back at Angella, swallowing passed a lumped in her throat. “You make me sound a lot better than I am.”

“Glimmer seems rather fond of you. And I trust her judgment.” Angella smiles dryly. “For the most part. You have yet to prove her wrong.”

“But Entrapta—”

“Entrapta was a horrible tragedy,” Angella admits. “And her loss is profound. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the world doesn’t stop while you mourn. And eventually it moves on without you. Don’t let the world move passed you, Catra. You have so much to contribute, if you feel you’re able. Whether it be as Etheria’s hero, or simply as yourself. I believe you still have a role here. If you want it.”

Damn it, this stupid place was making her emotional. She ducks her head, trying to hide the tears filling in her eyes. Slim, gentle hands clasp her cheeks, raising her head. Angella gently kisses her forehead. It’s such a wonderful, tender, _motherly_ thing. No one has ever done this for her. No one has ever believed in her. It’s such a new sensation.

 _I’m not going to cry, I’m not going to cry, I’m not_ …

“Yeah, well.” The tears slip over. _Damn it_. “Can’t let Sparkles down.”

Angella nods, recognizing the deferment for what it is. “Of course. I appreciate you looking out for her.”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure. I’m just gonna…”

“Sleep well,” Angella says, and Catra takes the escape.

_“Why does she hate me so much?”_

_“She doesn’t hate you,” Adora insists, squeezing Catra’s arm. “She’s just tough on you because she knows you can do better.”_

_“But what if I_ can’t _?” Catra yanks her arm away. “Why can’t she just be happy with what I_ can _do?”_

_“I’m sure she is.”_

No, she wasn’t. Catra scrubs her eyes, trying to figure out why she’s so emotional. Shadow Weaver had _never_ been proud of her. She had never felt even a _quarter_ of the affection from Shadow Weaver that she had just gotten from Angella. It makes her head spin.

Catra lets herself back into her room, spying the sword she had left near her bed.

 _As Etheria’s hero, or simply as yourself_.

But no one _wants_ Catra. Nobody wants the lost, screwed up kitten who had been Shadow Weaver’s punching bag and Adora’s sidekick. They want the princess — the _hero_ — she’s supposed to be. What is she supposed to do?

“Come on, give me a hint,” she begs the sword quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed, weapon in hand. “Is it like, a spell? A rhyme? Do I need to be a fucking poet?” No answer. “Right, what am I expecting. It’s not like you’re going to start talking to me or whatever.”

She flops back on the bed, sighing heavily. Maybe she can try to find that place again where the old lady was finding berries. No, that’s no good. She can’t even retrace her steps to Razz’ hut, never mind to that palace or whatever it was.

_The woods always lead you where you need to go…_

Catra isn’t going to test her luck on finicky trees. She sets the sword back on the floor and rolls onto her side, staring out the window.

 _I’m going to let everyone down_.

* * *

“Hey, Scorpia?”

“Hm?”

“If you’re technically the princess of the Fright Zone, doesn’t that mean the Runestone is technically yours?”

Scorpia looks up from her lunch, tilting her head. “I… guess? Technically.”

Adora tilts her head. “Then how come you don’t have any powers from it?”

“Well… my family gave the Runestone to Hordak, and Hordak gave it to Shadow Weaver, so I never really had a chance. Not that I want one,” she adds quickly. “I’m not built for all that magic stuff. Shadow Weaver probably uses it better.”

“I dunno about that,” Adora mutters. “How does it work, though? Like, do you have to want to consciously be connected to it?”

“There’s a bonding process, I think?” Scorpia shrugs. “I’ve never really thought much about it. Why?”

Adora looks around, then lowers her voice. “All the elemental princesses are connected to Runestones, right? And so are their kingdoms?”

“I think that’s how it works, yeah.”

“But not all kingdoms have Runestones.”

Scorpia watches Adora for a moment before curiosity gets the better of her. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m not sure,” Adora admits. “I wonder if Entrapta knows something about the Runestones.”

“Probably. She’s like, super smart. It’s kind of scary.”

“Yeah I’m kind of glad she’s on our side. Come on.”

Scorpia quickly shovels down the rest of her food before hurrying after Adora.

Walking into Entrapta’s lab is still deeply unsafe — Adora knocks, nudges the door open slightly with her foot, and calls, “Entrapta?” while listening for explosions.

“It’s safe!” The overexcited princess calls. Safe is subjective. Adora still checks before actually walking in. It’s odd to see Entrapta just sitting at her table, tinkering with something.

Adora leans against the wall. “Do you know anything about Runestones?”

Entrapta looks up, wide-eyed. “A little. I’ve always wanted an up close look at one, though. Imagine what I could _learn_.”

“Imagine,” Adora repeats slowly. “What _do_ you think you could learn?”

“Lots! Have you ever seen Bright Moon? The Runestone is a giant floating moonstone. It’s amazing. It seems dangerous to have it exposed like that but Glimmer says it’s protected by magic. Other kingdoms’ Runestones aren’t actual stones. Plumeria’s Runestone is a _tree_. Or embedded in a tree, at least. It’s odd. But all Runestones serve the same basic purpose of powering the princesses and protecting the land. So there must be some similarities between them. If I could just poke around a little…”

Adora nods slowly as Entrapta’s voice drifts off into wonder. “Okay. I can’t make any promises but… I’ll talk to Lord Hordak about getting you access to a Runestone.”

Entrapta _screams_. “That would be _amazing_! Emily, did you hear that?! We might get to see a Runestone!”

She loses herself babbling to her robot. Adora smiles, making her way out of the room. “Uh, Adora?” Scorpia whispers to the blonde as she follows her out. “That’s a bit bold, isn’t it? I mean, even if Lord Hordak says yes, there’s still Shadow Weaver…”

“I’m not afraid of Shadow Weaver,” Adora says simply. Scorpia grimaces.

“You’re the only one.”

* * *

To say Shadow Weaver’s had a hard month is an understatement.

Being defeated by a bunch of princesses is, by far, the most humiliating defeat she’s ever suffered. Followed very closely by Catra overpowering her shadow magic in Mystacor. When had that _brat_ gotten so powerful? And she hasn’t left Bright Moon since returning there. Hiding like a coward. But Shadow Weaver will flush her out one way or—

“ _Adora_? What is this?”

The blonde force captain turns, smiling in what could almost be an innocent way, if not for the chaos behind her. “What do you mean?”

“I _mean_ ,” Shadow Weaver seethes, “ why is that _princess_ touching the Runestone?”

“I’m not touching it,” Entrapta speaks up, wiggling her hands and her hair. “My machines are!”

“She has theories,” Adora says quickly, stepping in front of Entrapta. “And she’s never had a chance to look at a real Runestone.”

“And you thought you would just _hand_ her mine?” the Sorceress demands.

“Doesn’t it technically belong to the Fright Zone?” Adora points out. “Besides, we have permission.”

“From _who_?”

“ _From me_.”

Shadow Weaver jumps, whirling to look at the screen that’s come to life behind her. “Lord Hordak! I don’t understand.”

“ _Force Captain Adora came to me with some questions Entrapta has about Runestones. I thought the questions warranted further exploration._ ”

“My Lord.” Shadow Weaver sounds aghast. “You can’t really think letting this _princess_ tinker with my Runestone is a good idea?”

“ _Her_ tinkering _has increased the firepower of every weapon she's touched. So yes, she gets to tinker with whatever she wants,_ ” Hordak says. “ _And she was vouched for by the force captain you’ve been talking up since she began training. Are you questioning_ her _judgment after all of that?”_

“I…” Shadow Weaver is tongue-tied, looking back at Adora, who’s smiling smugly, then at the screen again. “You can't do this! I alone have learned how to draw power from it, a feat no sorceress has done before! I have unlocked its potential!”

“ _And you’ve wasted it_.” The sneer is obvious in Hordak’s tone. “ _The Black Garnet is mine to give or take as I see fit. And right now, I see fit to turn it over to_ your _favored force captain for her to do with as she pleases. Force Captain Adora, proceed_.”

“Yes, Lord Hordak.”

The screen flicks off, leaving Shadow Weaver in stunned silence. “Entrapta, are you almost ready to start—”

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, Adora,” Shadow Weaver says in a low, dangerous voice. “But you’ll do well to stop _now_ and remember who gave you your power.”

“Lord Hordak gave me my power,” Adora says, turning back to look at Shadow Weaver. “He just said so.”

“Don’t mouth off to me.” It’s very close to the way she used to snap at Catra. “If you want help finding Catra—”

“I’m not going to get it from you.” Adora’s expression turns dark. “You don’t care about Catra. You _never_ have. She tried to tell me for years that you hated her, and I tried to stand up for you, I tried to tell her she was wrong, that you cared, but you didn’t. All you ever did was put her down and hurt her. Whatever your motivations are for helping her, it’s not for her own good.”

Magic flares around Shadow Weaver’s hands. “I’ve given you _every_ opportunity, and you continue to throw them away for _her_ —”

“I stand by my friends,” Adora replied, straightening up. “Don’t make me choose between you and her.”

“How _dare_ you!” Shadow Weaver dives at Adora, who immediately pulls her staff, spins it, and slams it straight into the center of Shadow Weaver’s forehead — hitting the small runestone gem in the middle of the mask and shattering it. Shadow Weaver shrieks as she drops to her knees, the magic aura around her gone.

“No, _no_!” She drops to her knees, grasping desperately at the broken peaces of stone. “Come back to me. Come back!”

Adora stands over her, retracting her staff and looking back at Scorpia and Entrapta. “Scorpia, restrain the sorceress.”

“Why?” Shadow Weaver sounds horrified. Her golden child has betrayed her.

“You don’t care about the Horde, or its mission, or any of us,” Adora says coldly. “All you care about is power.”

Shadow Weaver grunts as Scorpia lifts her up. Adora spares her one last look before turning to Entrapta. “Ready when you are.”

Entrapta squeals, jumping up and down, and snaps her goggles over her head. “All right everyone. Let’s get _weird_.”

The stone begins to buzz, electricity crackling around it; the shadow in the room are sucked into it like a vacuum, the buzzing getting louder. Adora watches, mouth hanging open. Entrapta is bouncing with excitement.

“What do you think’s gonna happen?” Scorpia asks nervously.

“I don’t know! That’s the best part!”

The ground shakes; energy shoots up out of the stone, through the ceiling, and into the open air. They watch in amazement as lightning cracks overhead. Entrapta’s hair retrieves her recorder from her pocket.

“Runestone experimentation, log one. It would appear, in trying to tap into the source of the black garnet’s power, that I may have accidentally unleashed more power than I was expecting. Further study needed to determine short- and long-term effects.”

“Experiment away, Entrapta.” Adora can’t help the self-satisfied smirk pulling at her lips.

* * *

“Come on, give me _something_. I’m trying, aren’t I?”

The sword just glints back in the sunlight. “Um… for Etheria? I want to be the big lady again? _Anything_?”

Nothing. “I’m talking to a _sword_ ,” Catra reminds herself as she falls back to lie on the grassy training field ground. “This is what my life’s come to.”

A chill runs through the air. Catra immediately sits up again, ears twitching. It’s gone silent. Eerily silent. Usually there are birds or something chittering in the nearby trees. Silence is unnerving.

Catra carefully stands, walking toward the woods. The temperature grows colder as she approaches; she’s shivering by the time she’s at the treeline, and sees something disturbing.

 _Snow_.

“What the hell?”

* * *

“What’s it doing now?” Adora asks, leaning over Entrapta to look at her screen. The spot meant to represent the Fright Zone is glowing brightly.

“Near as I can tell, the black garnet is taking power from the other Runestones, throwing the entire natural order into chaos.”

“The black garnet is… taking power?” Adora looks up at it, wide-eyed. “Does that mean it’s weakening the other Runestones? The kingdoms?”

“In theory, yes. I have it up to two-hundred percent full power and Etheria is going _wild_.” Entrapta is wide-eyed and on the edge of her seat.

“If the land is weakening…” Adora snaps around to look at Scorpia. “Get a few scouts out to the edge of the Whispering Woods.”

“Yes ma’am!”


	13. The Battle For Bright Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “ _You can still walk away._ ”
> 
> “And leave Etheria to burn?” The creature doesn’t respond. “I can’t… I can’t do that. I…”
> 
> _That’s not my problem._
> 
> _It’s a_ war _, princess, people get hurt!_
> 
> _What are you going to do?_
> 
> _You have a chance to be better here._
> 
> The Horde is evil. Shadow Weaver is terrible and manipulative. Adora is misguided and possibly willfully blind.
> 
> Catra is none of those things.
> 
> “ _Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?_ ”
> 
>  _Oh_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season one finale. Lezzgo.

“It never snows in the Whispering Woods.”

“I know what I saw, Arrow Boy. You wanna go look?”

“I’ve sent a scout out to look,” Angella says, trying to project a calm she clearly doesn’t feel. “Something is throwing the elements out of harmony. The Moonstone is using all its power to counteract the growing cloud of darkness… but it's not enough.”

“So what do we do?” Bow asks, looking around. Catra is out on the balcony, balancing on the rail, looking out over the woods. There’s an ominous cloud in the distance, lightning flashing.

“That’s coming from the Fright Zone,” she says slowly, standing to get a better look. “They have a Runestone. If they did something to it, could that effect yours somehow?”

Angella nods. “The Runestones maintain balance and harmony throughout Etheria. If one were to be tampered with, it would throw everything else off.”

Catra clenches her fists, scowling darkly. “Shadow Weaver. She must have done something.”

“Do you think they’re preparing an attack?” Glimmer asks, worry tinging her tone.

“They can’t,” Bow insists. “They’ve still got to get through the Whispering Woods—”

“I… don’t think that’ll be too hard anymore,” Catra reports. Everyone stands to join her on the balcony. The woods are freezing over.

“Oh, that’s not good.”

“If the woods are compromised, there’s nothing stopping the Horde,” Angella says grimly. Catra’s jaw clenches.

“We could send up a distress beacon?” Bow suggests half heartedly.

“No one is going to come,” Catra says. “Perfuma and Mermista are closed off, Frosta never wanted to join, Entrapta is…”

She turns on her heel, jumping down from the railing and onto the balcony. “It’s worth a try,” Angella says. “I’ll send the beacon up. The rest of you… get ready.”

The trio nods, watching the queen walk out of the war room. Uncertain looks went between them. “Now what?” Bow finally asks.

“Now we fight,” Catra says grimly. Whatever is about to happen, she knows Adora is going to be involved in it. Invading Bright Moon would be the perfect chance for them to talk — or fight, really. It’s always going to turn into a fight.

“To the armory!” Glimmer announces.

“There’s an armory?”

“Well, there’s a room I put stolen weapons in. Same thing.”

Catra smiles just a bit. “You guys go. I’ve got what I need.”

“Are you okay?” Bow asks quietly.

“Yeah, I’m good. Go.”

They leave, and Catra turns back to the woods, watching the trees slowly freeze. Bright Moon could really use a hero right now.

 _Too bad all they’ve got is me_.

She could leave. The thought crosses her mind so rapidly that it almost blindsides her. She could jump out now and disappear and never be seen again. Get halfway across Etheria before the first tanks hit Bright Moon. She could be free from all of this.

But she doesn’t _want_ to run, and that’s possibly even more alarming than the idea of running. She wants to stay. She wants to fight. She wants to kick Adora’s ass and get it through her thick skull that she was _wrong_ , that she was on the wrong god damn side, that she needed to _stop_.

She stares out at the woods for a long time, the breeze ruffling her fur and hair, before finally turning to look back inside. The sword is resting on the war room table. She reaches for it, picking it up and turning it over. “I don’t suppose you’re going to work for me now?”

Nothing, of course. “Uh… are we interrupting something?” She looks up to see the two princesses she had met ages ago — Netossa and Spinerella — standing in the door. _Someone_ had responded to the distress beacon.

“No,” Catra says quickly, lowering her arm to her side, sword hanging in her grip. “Here for the suicide mission?”

“Well, when you put it that way, it sounds a lot less fun.”

* * *

Adora is practically giddy.

The strike team is ready to go. Entrapta has a guard to keep anyone from bothering her while she works. Scorpia is standing with her, ready to depart for Bright Moon.

“We’re going to take down Bright Moon.” She can’t help the giggle in her voice. Because, more importantly, she’s going to get Catra back. She’s going to save Catra, and bring her home. And everything will be okay. Better, even, now that Shadow Weaver’s locked up. She won’t hurt either of them ever again. If they can just talk, everything will be okay.

“We’re going to take down Bright Moon,” Scorpia repeats brightly. She sounds like she’s getting ready to go on vacation. Adora smiles, relaxing for the first time in ages.

It’s going to be okay.

* * *

Catra finds a sheath for the sword and slings it over her back with a sigh. It feels important to keep it close, even if she has no idea how to fight with it, or make it _work_.

“Are you sure you don’t want any armor or anything?” Glimmer asks, raising an eyebrow when she sees her. They’re standing outside the palace — her, Glimmer, and Bow — watching the tanks on the horizon. The Runestone is shining bright overhead, kept alight by Angella — a beacon in the darkness.

“Nah. It’ll just slow me down.” Catra nods to Glimmer’s staff. “That’s new.”

Glimmer beams. “Mom gave it to me. It was my dad’s.”

Catra looks up toward the Runestone. _“Glimmer trusts you. You’ve obviously done something to earn that trust. I ask that you not let her down.”_

“Awesome.” She looks back at Glimmer and Bow. “Aim for the barrels on the tanks. They’re useless if they can’t fire. They have range, but if we can get under them, there isn’t much they can do.”

“You’re going to look for Adora, aren’t you?” Bow asks quietly. Catra nods, looking toward the tanks again.

“Someone has to save that idiot from herself.”

Two warm bodies tackle Catra from either side. She groans, stumbling under the weight of Glimmer and Bow hugging her. “Be careful.” Glimmer’s words are muffled by her face being in Catra’s shoulder.

“Aren’t I always?”

“We can do this,” Bow says, pulling away. His words are undercut by the sudden blast of green energy that hits the moonstone.

“Show time.” Catra jumps off, and Glimmer teleports away while Bow knocks an arrow into place. The faint sizzle of the bomb tip gives him a small bit of satisfaction before he lets go.

Catra lands on one tank, swiftly taking out its barrel, then repeating the process on another before she stands up, examining the sea of vehicles. “Hey Adora,” she calls over the thrum of machinery. “Not hiding from me, are ya?”

She smiles grimly when she hears a tank to her right open, and looks to see Adora climbing out. “Bit loud here, isn’t it? Let’s take this somewhere else.”

There’s a nearby, rocky shore at the base of a cliff. It’s here Catra retreats, waiting for her friend to catch up. “How’s it feel being the slowest person in the world?” she teases. Adora doesn’t smile. That’s… alarming.

“I’m not playing around, Catra,” she says as she approaches.

“Oh, neither am I, don’t worry.” Catra steps back to make sure they’re on dry land together. “So is this the part where you take me down and bring me back to let Shadow Weaver fry my brain?”

Adora’s expression softens slightly. “Shadow Weaver is out of commission.” Catra blinks, her expression slipping into true surprise. “She can’t hurt you anymore. _Now_ will you come home?”

Not exactly how Catra was expecting this to go, but she can work with it. “You really still don’t get it, do you Adora? This isn’t about Shadow Weaver. Not anymore.”

“Then what _is_ it? I don’t understand.”

“No, you don’t, and that’s the problem.” Explosions echo in the distance. Catra ignores them. “You’re _not_ the good guy, Adora. You never have been. I thought you’d figure it out on your own but after all this, you still don’t get it.”

“Then explain it.”

“I don’t know how!” Catra throws her arms up. “I’ve tried, and tried, and you’re not _listening_. The Horde _hurts_ people. You’ve seen it over and over and over. You’ve led the invasions. You. Are. Not. The. Good. Guy.”

“So _what_?!” Catra draws back in surprise, blinking. That is… _not_ an Adora answer. “What does it matter? Etheria’s no better off with the princesses running the show. The Horde can’t make it any _worse_. At least they took care of us.”

Catra’s mind flashes to Angella, to the warmth in her smile, the pride in her voice, the gentle way she had kissed her forehead. “Three meals a day and a bed is all it takes for you? You need better standards, Adora.”

“Better than some people get.”

A growl builds in Catra’s throat. “Why are you so fucking stubborn?! Why can’t you just listen to me for _once_ in your life?!”

“You _left_! Why should I listen to you? Why should I even _trust_ you?!”

Catra wilts slightly, taking another step back. “You don’t need to trust me. Just trust your eyes.”

Adora sighs, drawing her staff from her jacket and extending it. “I’m going to bring you home, Catra. One way or another.”

She attacks. Catra jumps to avoid the first swing, landing on the staff and pushing her hand against Adora’s head to leverage herself and jump over her. Her claws are out, but she tries to be gentle as she rakes them across Adora’s back — enough to break through her clothes and to feel it on her skin, but not enough to draw blood. A warning.

The reaction is faster than Catra expects; Adora jams her staff back as she whirls around, catching Catra in the chest and knocking her back, winding her. She recovers just in time to dodge another hit, and is on the defensive for a minute, weaving and ducking around. She finally finds an opening — admittedly a dirty one, but she’s never played fair — and kicks a rock into Adora’s face. She’s distracted enough for Catra to swipe again, this time breaking through her staff. The blonde looks shocked for a moment before she pulls another weapon from her belt — a stun baton.

“What the _hell_ , Adora?”

Catra immediately bounces away, then shrieks in surprise when a ball of electrical energy just misses her. “What the _fuck_ , Adora?”

“We got a few upgrades,” Adora says simply, aiming the baton again. “What do you think?”

“It sucks.”

Back on the defensive. Catra can’t get anywhere near Adora without being driven back by bursts of electricity. The ground beneath their feet rocks as another shot hits the moonstone, and Adora’s next shot goes wide. Catra springs at her, tackling her to the ground.

“Are we seriously doing this?”

“You can stop it at any time,” Adora reminds her as she readies the stun baton again, and Catra falls for the bait; she tries to stop it, and completely misses the sucker punch to the jaw. She yelps as she’s thrown away, and this time the stun baton is driven right into her side. Electricity runs through her body, and she screams. Her vision goes dark for a moment; she claws at consciousness, refusing to slip away. A strong hand wraps around her arm.

“It’s going to be okay, Catra.” Adora’s voice is distorted, like hearing through water.

 _No, no, no, no, no_ …

Something akin to adrenaline flooded through her veins. Her vision snaps back into focus, and she elbows Adora in the jaw before jumping away. She sees her mask glowing in her peripheral vision; it fades, and the energy drains from Catra. She collapses to her knees, groaning. Her side feels like it’s on fire. Her jaw is throbbing. She’s happy to see that Adora is in equally bad shape, at least — breathing heavily, scraped up, hair slipping from her ponytail. A battle rages on behind them, outside of this bubble, far away from the childhood friends standing on different sides of the war.

Catra pushes herself up shakily, ears twitching at the noises surrounding them. “You can’t win, Adora.”

She’s surprised when she gets a small, smug smile in return. “You sure about that?”

The words flood Catra with ice. Her ears twitch again, and she becomes more aware of the screaming behind her — Angella trying to keep up with the protection of the dying Moonstone, Glimmer and Bow as they try to fight, and it hits Catra once more that they’re barely soldiers, they’ve never seen a fight like _this_ , are they even going to survive?

The thoughts abruptly end when a burst of electricity hits Catra square in the chest; she shrieks, her entire body seizing up, and collapses. This time, the world goes black.

* * *

_“Will you fight?”_

Catra gasps as her eyes open again, chest heaving. She’s… nowhere familiar. A barren landscape stretches out before her, all rock and dust. She looks around, bewildered.

“Where am I?”

 _“Will you fight?_ ”

Light shimmers in front of her; she jumps back, surprised, as the light takes on a slightly humanoid shape, then shrinks down into something more animalistic. It finally fades to reveal a large animal with purple fur and a shimmering blue mane, sitting perfectly still other than the eyes, which sweep over Catra and leave her with the distinct feeling of being x-rayed. It mewls; Catra’s ears flatten when she realizes it’s not just a noise. It’s talking, and she can understand it.

 _“You have been given a great burden. I’m sorry_.”

“What… What are you? Where are we?”

 _“That doesn’t matter right now. What’s important is your next choice._ ”

“My next…?” Catra looks around, then back at the creature, for lack of anything better to focus on. “What do you mean?”

“ _You’ve reached a crossroads._ ” The creature nods to to its left; Catra looks to see a bubble forming in the air. Scenes from Bright Moon fade into view like she’s watching a screen — Glimmer protecting Angella, Bow out of arrows and running straight at soldiers to fight them, Netossa and Spinerella trying to protect the castle. It’s all in vein, though. They’re outnumbered. Outmatched.

“Wait a second, am I _dead_?!” Her voice cracks as the fear hits her. The thing doesn’t quite laugh, but it makes a sound that’s close.

“ _No, child._ ” The bubble flickers to show Catra, unconscious on the ground, Adora kneeling over her to check her pulse. She looks relieved.

“Then what do you mean I have a choice?”

 _“There are two paths before you. Stay and fight. Or let your friend take you. Leave this behind._ ”

Catra blinks a few times, confused, then annoyed. “Why do I have to keep making that choice?!” She doesn’t mean to yell. Or maybe she does. “Over and over, Adora or the rebellion, Adora or the rebellion, and I keep choosing the rebellion. Why isn’t that enough?”

 _“Because you’re still hesitating. Part of you wants to give up._ ”

“But…” Catra looks at the ground, her mind connecting dots. “If I give up, then Bright Moon falls. If Bright Moon falls, Etheria goes with it, and the Horde wins.”

“ _That’s correct_.”

“That’s not a choice!” Catra burst out. “That’s the choice between myself and the world!”

“ _It’s the choice you must make now_ ,” the creature says. “ _You can still walk away._ ”

“And leave Etheria to burn?” The creature doesn’t respond. “I can’t… I can’t do that. I…”

_That’s not my problem._

_It’s a_ war _, princess, people get hurt!_

_What are you going to do?_

_You have a chance to be better here._

The Horde is evil. Shadow Weaver is terrible and manipulative. Adora is misguided and possibly willfully blind.

Catra is none of those things.

“ _Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?_ ”

 _Oh_. Catra’s head snapped up, eyes wide. “That’s it,” she whispers. The creature smiles, satisfied, and begins to fade with the landscape. “Hang on, I have questions!”

“ _We will meet again, child. Good luck_.”

* * *

Adora reaches for the mask, ready to tear it off, when it lights up. She jerks back, covering her eyes and stumbling, tripping.

There’s no surge of energy this time. Every movement is hard and well-earned. Her muscles scream, her limbs ache, the electrocution sites burn. And still Catra rises, mismatched eyes glowing icy blue. Adora stares up at her friend, mouth hanging open.

“Catra…?”

The battle seems to freeze for a moment, all eyes turning to the shining golden light illuminating the darkness around them. “Whoa,” Bow whispers, wide-eyed. Glimmer stops midway through helping her mother up, mouth hanging open. Angella’s eyes flutter open; she smiles when she sees the light.

Catra reaches for the sword, slowly unsheathing it and raising it into the sky. “For the honor of Grayskull!”

Adora peeks out between her fingers, squinting. All she can see is the light wrapping around her friend, the sword still raised above her head, and none of it makes sense. It makes even less sense when the light fades, and she sees the woman who replaced Catra. Her hair falls down down her back in curly brown waves, her tail swishing lazily behind her. She’s grown several inches, definitely taller than Adora now, her form slimmer, but stronger. Her usual outfit has been replaced with dark red armor shoulder pads, a light red leotard, bracers on her arms the same color as the shoulder pads, and purple leggings.

_Whoa._

Catra has to resist the urge to look at herself like an idiot. Everything feels different. _More_. The sword feels secure in her hand; she can practically feel magic buzzing in the air around her. She’s suddenly towering over Adora, who looks stunned.

Her ears twitch when she hears the chime of bells on the cliff above them. Bow and Glimmer both shriek in surprise and glee.

“The big lady!”

A small smirk pulls at Catra’s lips. She hears the mechanical sound of tanks aiming to fire again, and she jumps over Adora. She lands on top one of the tanks and cleanly slices the barrel off before jumping on and crushing another one. She hears soldiers yelling and tanks turning to her instead. _Okay, maybe I didn’t think this through_ …

Her ears twitch when she hears the distant sound of water. Water. Water?

“Adventure!”

Everyone looks around, shocked, as waves come down, taking out tanks around Catra. She thinks she can smell fire for a moment before a deadpan voice says, “Don’t do that.”

“Mermista!” Glimmer grabs Bow, teleporting him down to where Mermista and Sea Hawk land. Netossa and Spinnerella are hurrying over as well. “Sea Hawk! You came!”

“Yeah, sorry it took so long,” Mermista says. “The sea _kinda_ sucked today.”

Sea Hawk is staring at Catra, slack-jawed. “Is that the angry cat?”

Catra hears that, and laughs a bit despite herself. The surviving tanks start to move, and Catra turns to them — only to be interrupted by roots exploding out of the ground, wrapping around the tanks and soldiers. She jerks around, surprised, just as Perfuma rides out on a wave of vines, bringing the trees to life around her.

 _Man, these princesses are so dramatic_.

Then Catra remembers her light filled transformation and silently apologizes. “I saw the distress beacon,” Perfuma says, approaching the group. “Is everyone okay? Is… Is that Catra?”

“Could you guys stop sounding so surprised? I can _hear_ you.”

Catra jumps over to join them, and is immediately tackled by Glimmer and Bow. “Okay, okay.” She pats their heads. “There’s still—”

Still tanks to take out, still soldiers, but those words die in her throat when glaciers begin coming out of the ground, flipping tanks. They look around to see Frosta skating in on a slide she created as she went. “I hope I’m not too late,” she says as she flips off the slide to join them. “Wow, Kitty, you got big.”

Glimmer and Bow cough, trying to cover their laughter. “What are you doing here?” Catra asks stupidly. Frosta shrugs.

“I woke up and the world was burning.”

Catra looks at her, then at Bow and Glimmer, then the other princesses. And she starts to glow.

“ _Etheria has need of you, Catra._ ”

Catra looks at the sword in her hand, then closes her eyes and raises it above her head.

“ _For Etheria!_ ”

Light spreads from the sword, washing through the kingdom and beyond, reaching out to the Runestones to repower them, and to shut the black garnet down. The Moonstone begins glowing above them, and Glimmer giggles joyfully.

“Anyone else ready to be done with this?” Mermista asks. She’s met with a chorus of agreements. Catra lowers the sword, looking at the Runestone, which is glowing along with her. Catra and Bow look around her, smile, and reach out to touch the Runestone. They’re both delighted when Glimmer starts glowing, and Bow’s chestpiece lights up. The rest of the princesses and Sea Hawk gather around them, glowing as well — the princesses of Etheria, united. Just as its meant to be.

Waves of colors spread out from the group, washing through the remnants of the Horde and sweeping them out of Bright Moon. The sky feels lighter. The magic in the air feels livelier. The Horde is gone.

Everyone cheers, diving in and hugging each other. Catra is nearly tipped over by the group piling onto her at once. She laughs despite herself, trying to gather them all in her arms.

 _Adora_.

The thought spurs Catra on. She waits for the others to break away into their own hugs before she runs back to where she left Adora.

She’s gone.

Catra probably shouldn’t be surprised. Of course Adora wouldn’t stick around. But she had hoped…

“Catra?” Glimmer and Bow appear beside her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Catra sighs. “I just thought…” She shakes her head. “Nothing.”

She’s tired. She lets out a shaking breath, and notices her vision wavering. Glimmer and Bow are calling her name, but they sound so far away. _She’s so tired_.

Changing back is disorienting, and the last blow Catra can handle. All the aches and pains from her fight with Adora are back. Her side and her chest are burning from the electrocutions. Her knees buckle; she barely feels Bow catch her as she passes out.

* * *

“Force Captain. It seems your experiment has failed.”

Adora stares at the floor as Hordak speaks. Scorpia and Entrapta are behind her, flanking her. “On the contrary!” Entrapta says excitedly. “The experiment was a huge success. I know more about First One's tech than ever. This is just the beginning.”

Hordak raises an eyebrow, looking at Adora. Scorpia and Entrapta do the same, anxious. She’s been quiet since they got back from Bright Moon. “The Whispering Woods is still in ruins,” she says finally. “And this is the closest we’ve ever been to conquering Bright Moon — closer than Shadow Weaver ever got us.”

“And what of your secondary motivation?”

Adora looks up to face Hordak at last, expression hard. “Catra is misguided. I believe I can bring her back. The princesses have corrupted her. Rescuing her would be a natural result of continuing forward with our plans.”

Hordak stands, looking down at Adora with his hands behind his back. “Very well, Force Captain Adora. You will have other chances to prove your worth to me. As my second in command.”

Adora blinks, surprised. _Second in command_. She looks back at Scorpia and Entrapta, who give her encouraging smiles.

“Thank you, Lord Hordak.”

* * *

“And then Mermista and Sea Hawk came in like _whooooosh_ and—”

Catra grimaces. It’s so loud, and her body feels so _heavy_. It’s tempting to just fall back to sleep. “Frosta gets most dramatic entrance, for sure—”

“What, was coming in on giant waves not dramatic enough?”

“Oh, guys, shush! Catra’s ears are moving.”

“Does that mean she’s waking up?”

“Usually, yeah.”

“We’ve seen her unconscious a lot.”

“Too much, it sounds like.”

“You all can be your own damn heroes, then,” Catra mumbles, forcing her eyes open. It takes a moment for the colorful blobs in front of her to come into focus — Glimmer, Bow, and all the princesses (plus Sea Hawk) are hovering over her.

“Hey!” Glimmer beams brightly. “How are you feeling?”

“Like Adora hit me with a fucking stun baton. Twice.”

“Sounds right.” Bow helps Catra sit up, piling pillows behind Catra so she could stay upright. “The healer said you’ve got two electrical burns — one looks like it was close contact.”

“My side?” Bow nods. “Yeah, they’ve got someone juicing up their weapons.” Catra scrubs her eye with the heel of her palm. “She hit me hard once then threw a ball of electricity at me.”

“Ouch.” Netossa winces. “You okay?”

“Shadow Weaver’s done worse to me.” Catra shrugs. The name stirs something in her soupy memory. “Oh!” She straightens up, wincing. “Adora said — I don’t know what happened, but apparently Shadow Weaver is out of commission, and—”

“Catra, Catra, slow down,” Glimmer says gently. “We can start figuring things out tomorrow, okay? Right now, you need to eat and rest. Please?”

Catra sighs, sliding down in bed. “Fine.”

There would be time tomorrow. Tonight, she can rest. She’s earned this.

She had saved the world, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Wow Adora was way out of character  
> -I told you she was going to start changing, didn't I? Don't worry, she's still not turning into Catra. Just kinda... shifting her point of view. Gonna have to wait for season two to see!
> 
> Anyway, I'm taking two weeks off to finish season two (I'm on the last chapter now), so review, let me know what you think, what you think is coming, how scared you are, etc. And I'll see you in two weeks!
> 
> (follow me on Tumblr for sometimes updates. And more stories. And weird stuff.)


	14. Light Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “ _Are you okay?_ ”
> 
> “I’d say I’ve had better years, but that’s a lie.”
> 
> “ _But you took out the bots, right? Did you use the sword? Ooooooh, did you transform?_ ”
> 
> “Eeeeeeeehhhhh.” Catra lets her eyes drift to the side. “I sorta forgot about it.”
> 
> Bow and Glimmer both smack their palms against their foreheads. “ _How do you_ forget _that you turn into an eight-foot-tall super princess?_ ”
> 
> “I dunno, I was busy!” Catra huffs, resting her head in her hands. “Maybe Light Hope’s got a point about staying here and learning.”
> 
> “ _But for years?_ ” Glimmer’s voice is small.
> 
> “Aw, Sparkles. It’s okay, I know you’d miss me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! I may have taken two weeks off, but Catra has had no break. No rest for the wicked ^_^
> 
> Who's excited for season two?

“Razz? Hey, crazy lady, you out here?”

Catra looks around the woods, sighing. It’s only been a few days since the attack; the place have definitely seen better days. “I don’t suppose you could help,” she asks a tree. She’s talking to a tree. When did her life get so weird?

Razz had said the woods always led a person where they needed to go. Where _does_ she need to go? Her first thought is to find the old woman, but will she really be any help? Will the woods be any help? Maybe this is a bad idea…

Still, her legs carry her on, fixing the bag on her shoulder so it’s more secure. She hasn’t taken any turns, so in theory, getting back to Bright Moon should be easy. She hopes.

A rustle in some nearby bushes catches her attention; she stops, eyeing them warily before stepping forward to check the bushes. There’s nothing there, but when she parts the brush, she sees the building Razz had brought her to for berry picking.

“Always take a person where they need to go, huh?” Catra lets out a long breath, stepping closer. A panel glows as she approaches, probably reacting to the sword, and a door slides open. “Yeaaaaaaaaaah,” Catra says slowly. “That’s not creepy or anything.”

But she steps inside, starting down a hall that lights up as she walks. “Anyone home?” It’s stupid to think anything can respond to her in here, but… if trees could direct her, then anything is possible, really.

She steps out into a large atrium, looking around. “Whoa.” How big is this place? How long is she going to be wandering around?

Not long, it turns out. Something in the middle of the room lights up, and a hologram flickers to life. Catra narrows her eyes. She recognizes her.

“Hey. You were in that… vision or whatever I had when I _accepted_ the sword, weren’t you?”

“What is your query?” the hologram asks.

“I _just_ asked you a question.”

“What is your query?”

“Are you broken?”

“What is your query?”

Catra groans, pressing a hand to her face — then pauses when she feels the mask. “Fine, you won’t talk to _Catra_ ,” she mutters, pulling the sword free of the sheath on her back. “For the honor of Grayskull!”

Changing is weird. Being _tall_ is weird. Catra feels slightly awkward and unsteady on her feet, like she’s not quite in control.

 _I guess this is what it feels like to have a growth spurt_.

“Administrator detected. Welcome, She-Ra.”

“Right, okay.” She lowers the sword to her side, eyeing the hologram. “I have questions about all of this.” No answer. It’s so creepy. “What _is_ all of this?”

“This is the Crystal Castle.”

“That answers nothing,” Catra mutters. “What’s the Crystal Castle?”

“The Crystal Castle was built by the First Ones, meant to act as the homebase of She-Ra.”

Okay, so she has to be specific. Catra looks at the sword, then back at the hologram. “Can you tell me about the sword?”

“The Sword of Protection. Classification, portable Runestone keyed exclusively to Administrator She-Ra, Princess of Power.”

“What’s it for besides stabbing things?”

“Query not recognized.”

Right. Catra closes her eyes, counts to ten, and tries again. “What can the sword do?”

“The Sword of Protection has many intended functions. It is meant to restore balance to Etheria.”

“What does _balance_ mean? I keep hearing that, but it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Query not recognized.”

Catra wants to hit her head against a wall. “How is Etheria balanced?”

“The Runestones across Etheria act together in harmony to keep the planet balanced.”

“Is that why messing with the black garnet made everything go crazy?”

“Query not recognized.”

The question hadn’t really been for the hologram, but Catra still growls in frustration. “Is there someone less hologram-y I can talk to?”

“Query not recognized.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Okay, this had clearly been a terrible idea. Catra turns to leave, then pauses as a memory crosses her mind. “Who’s Light Hope?”

“Light… Hope?” The hologram almost sounds hesitant. Jackpot.

“Light Hope. I saw her in that… vision or whatever that I had when I took the sword. Is she here?”

“Yes, Light Hope is here. She has been waiting for you.”

“You could’ve said _that_ sooner. Where is she? Can I see her?”

No answer. “Uuuuuh, hey, hologram lady? Talking to you is fun and all but I really need to talk to someone about… all of this.” She waves her hand up and down, gesturing to herself. “So can I talk to Light Hope?”

No answer. “Come _on_!” Catra growls, her voice echoing off the walls. “I’m trying here! What do you want, a blood sacrifice?” Nothing. She sighs, dropping to the ground and curling her legs under herself. “Please help me,” she whispers shakily. “Everyone expects me to be a hero now, like I know what I’m freaking doing just because I can suddenly make the sword work. I can’t be anything for them, though. I’m still just a screw up pretending to know what I’m doing.”

No answer. Catra just lowers her head, sighing. Of course this had been a waste of time. She isn’t sure why she expected anything different.

* * *

Shadow Weaver looks up as footsteps approach her cell. “Adora,” she greets her prodigy fondly, ignoring the glare. “If you just listen, I’m sure we can talk about this—”

“Be quiet.” Adora hits a button, bringing down the energy wall and stepping into the prison, kneeling so she’s eye level with the sorceress. “I have questions, and you’re going to give me answers. _Real_ answers, not just what you think I want to hear.”

“Of course.” Shadow Weaver’s voice is the same, unwavering tone that it’s been for Adora’s entire life — soft, but dangerous. Almost sickly sweet.

“Good. What do you know about a magic sword?” The question truly shocks Shadow Weaver, leaving her speechless. “And don’t tell me you don’t know anything—”

“Catra has the sword, doesn’t she?”

It’s Adora’s turn to be surprised. She narrows her eyes. “Yeah. What do you know about it?”

“I’m sure we can work out some kind of deal—”

“No,” Adora snaps, voice cold. “I’m not making any _deals_ with you. If you don’t answer my questions, I’ll find another way, and you can stay here to rot.” Again, Shadow Weaver has no answer. “You know Catra has the sword. I assume you know what it does.”

“I do.”

“What is it?”

Shadow Weaver contemplates her next move for a moment. “We really should teach you all more history.”

“That’s not an answer.” Shadow Weaver doesn’t speak. Adora grits her teeth in annoyance. “Catra was never really brainwashed, was she?”

“No.” She has no problem answering _that_ , of course. “Every choice Catra’s made has been of her own free will.”

She knows those words will hurt Adora, and she’s right; pain flashes across the girl’s face faster than she can hide it. Because if Catra was truly making her own choices, it means that she chose to leave the Horde. She chose to defect. To fight them. To fight _Adora_.

“Why would she turn against… us?”

 _Against me_. The words aren’t said, but they’re implied. Shadow Weaver chuckles slightly. “That I honestly can’t answer. I have no idea what swayed her to choose this path. She’s never particularly cared about morals or being a good person. Your guess is as good as mine.”

Adora narrows her eyes for a moment, but she can’t keep the heartbreak out of her expression. Catra has always been Adora’s weakness, and vice versa. They’ll be each other’s downfall someday.

“What. Is. The sword?”

Adora won’t be deterred, apparently. “It’s a key to power beyond anything anyone could ever imagine. The power of the universe, all in Catra’s hands now.”

They sit in silence for a moment before Adora stands, her gaze locked on the floor. “Lord Hordak still hasn’t decided what to do with you,” she says after a moment, turning away. “But I’ll let you know when he does.”

She walks out and hits the button for the energy wall, locking Shadow Weaver in once more.

* * *

Catra isn’t sure why she’s still sitting here. Maybe she’ll prove something to the hologram? To Light Hope, if she’s watching? Or maybe she just can’t bring herself to stand.

“What do I do?”

“Query not recognized.”

“How can I see Light Hope?”

No answer.

“Why are you so useless?”

“Query not recognized.”

Catra groans out loud, burying her face in her hands. “I need _help_. I have no idea what I’m doing, or how to figure it out, and no one else has answers for me.”

“I will answer your questions.”

“That’s not what I’m asking!” Catra snaps, thoroughly annoyed at the hologram. “I need someone… _real_. Realer than this, at least. How can I talk to Light Hope?”

“You must leave the magicats behind.”

That brings Catra up short. “The magicats… I _am_ a magicat. How do I leave that behind?”

“Query not recognized.”

If she hears that one more time, Catra is going to scream. “I don’t know what you’re—!”

The answer hits her suddenly. _Leave the magicats behind_. She slowly reaches up to pull off the mask. “Do… Do you mean this?” No answer. Catra hesitates, feeling weirdly exposed, but sets the mask aside with her bag. “Can I see Light Hope now?”

No answer. Catra sighs, giving up…

When the lights around her go out.

Catra jumps up, grabbing the sword. Great, this is how she’s going to die. She could have gone out in a blaze of glory, but no, she has to die in a dark room where no one will ever find her body…

The lights start turning back on, and she realizes she’s somewhere different — a smaller room, with metallic blue walls, First One writing scrawled all over it. She looks around, mouth hanging open. “What… the…”

She cuts off with a shriek when her eyes land on a glowing blue woman. It takes her a moment to place how she knows the woman.

“Light Hope.” Great, she’s even more dramatic than Shadow Weaver. Just what Catra needs.

“Hello, Catra. You’ve come at last.”

“Yeah, I mean, I would’ve come sooner if your weird hologram thing hadn’t been so stubborn,” Catra says with just a tinge of bitterness.

“My apologies.” She doesn’t particularly sound apologetic, but she’s also clearly not human. “Magicat artifacts can not be used in the temple.”

That catches Catra off guard. “Why not? I thought the First Ones and the magicats worked together.”

“They did, once. But the magicats betrayed the First Ones and disappeared.”

Catra’s heart skipped a beat. “Betrayed…?”

Light Hope is already moving on. “But that does not matter anymore. We have much to do, and you have much to learn.”

“I… wait, okay, hang on, can we back up?” Catra asks. “ Back to that magicat thing… what do you mean they betrayed the First Ones?”

“The First Ones and the magicats worked together in harmony for many, many years, until the magicats took everything they had discovered and designed and disappeared, leaving the First Ones with the Sword of Protection, which did not work quite right without the mask — they had been attuned to each other for centuries. Without the mask, the last She-Ra was unable to fully access her powers.”

“The last… huh?” Catra raises an eyebrow. “There was someone before me?”

“There were many before you, over the years, from both the magicat and First One heritages. The last was Mara, a First One.”

 _Mara_. The name sends a jolt through Catra.

_“This is the wrong time for my Mara, isn’t it?”_

Razz had said that name, over and over. “What… What happened to her?” Catra asks, not sure if she wants to know the answer.

“The power was too much for her to handle without the aid of the mask. She was compromised. She gave in to fear and faulty reasoning. Her desperate actions led to devastation. Mara stranded us in the empty dimension of Despandos. She broke the She-Ra line. She nearly destroyed us.”

“Stranded — wait there are other dimensions? We’re in the _wrong_ dimension?” Nothing should surprise Catra by now, but somehow the universe keeps finding ways to do it.

_“Do you remember, Mara? They’re all gone now. What happened to the stars?”_

How old _was_ Razz?

“And… all of this happened because of what the magicats did?” Catra’s ears are flat on her head. She doesn’t know _why_ it bothers that people she had never met, whom she had only a vague blood relation with, turned out to be the villains.

“That is correct.”

“Great.” Catra tries not to look too upset. Not that it really matters, she guesses. There’s no one to pretend for but Light Hope. She probably doesn’t notice these things. “So if She-Ra could be from magicat or First One descent, how did Etheria go a thousand years without one? There were still magicats.”

“The magicats retreated underground, closing off from the rest of the world. There was no way for the sword to choose.”

“So I got stuck with this because I somehow ended up in the Fright Zone?” And here Catra always thought being raised by Shadow Weaver was the worst part of her life. “How _did_ I end up in the Fright Zone?”

“That is unimportant.” Catra bristles, opening her mouth to say it’s pretty damn important to her, but Light Hope continues on. “You are here now, and there is much for you to learn.”

“Fine,” Catra sighs. “So… teach me how to use this thing.” She waves the sword a bit. “How long is that going to take?”

“It could take a long time. Potentially years.”

Catra swears Light Hope is fucking with her. “ _Seriously_? We don’t have years! Have you seen _anything_ that’s happening outside?!”

“I have seen everything, yes.”

“Then you know that we’re totally screwed right now! The woods are still frozen, the Horde’s moving in on more territory around us, and everyone expects me to know how to fix things! I don’t have _years_! I’m not even sure I have _months_!”

“You must dedicate yourself wholly to training. You will remain here and—”

“No, wait, I’m sorry, _what_?” Catra looks at Light Hope in disbelief. “You want me to _stay here_? Did you miss everything I just said about the Horde? People need my help, and when they need _my_ help, you know things are _bad_.”

“The entire world needs you. That is why you must stay.”

“This is…” Catra pinches the bridge of her nose, sighing heavily. “Look, just… let me out of here, okay? I need to talk to my friends.”

“Friends?”

Catra feels for a moment like she’s talking to a far less enthusiastic version of Entrapta, then struggles against the wave of guilt and grief that threatens to overwhelm her. “Yes. My friends. They’re going to worry if I don’t get in touch with them. They might even try to come here and get me.”

She throws that part in because she’s pretty sure Light Hope wouldn’t like the idea of not She-Ra people coming into the castle. And she’s right, as it turns out. She’s back in the atrium between blinks, Light Hope still standing before her.

Changing back is a relief if only because Catra can’t get used to feeling that tall. She walks to her bag and gets out the tracker pad, making her way out of the castle.

* * *

“ _Stay there?_ ”

“Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction.”

Catra is sitting against the door of the castle, legs drawn up loosely, elbow resting on her knee, hand against her forehead. Glimmer and Bow look up at her from the screen, shock obvious in their expressions. “ _She can’t be serious_ ,” Bow says.

“She’s an AI or something, I don’t think she’s capable of making jokes.”

“ _What the fu—_ ” Angella coughs loudly in the background. Glimmer winces. “ _Heck?_ ”

Catra chokes down a laugh. “Wow Sparkles, am I bad influence on you? Maybe I _should_ just stay here.”

“ _For years?_ ” Bow asks incredulously. “ _That sounds like a long time not to see other people. I don’t think that’s healthy._ ”

“Eh, I don’t need other people.” Catra shrugs. Glimmer raises an eyebrow.

“ _Uh huh. Because you definitely didn’t sleep at the bottom of my bed like every other night for the last month_.” Catra hisses at her. “ _Anyway, the woods are still a mess, we need every hand we can_ —”

“Hold that thought,” Catra cuts her off, looking up. The sound of mechanical whirring just barely reaches her ears.

“ _What’s up?”_

“Bots. Call you back.”

“ _Catra_ —”

She kills the call and slowly stands, approaching the trees. Everything is brittle and frozen, making sneaking hard, and there’s no way she’s going to be able to climb. Two of the things she’s best at right off the table, and there are… she narrows her eyes, counting three bots crashing through the forest. Whatever, they’re just bots. She’s spent years tearing them apart in training sims. How hard could it be? She runs, launching herself into the air landing on top of one.

It turns out to be the only easy hit she gets. She rips the processor out of the first one before another blasts her head on, throwing her into a tree. “Is this how Kyle feels?” she mutters with a groan, pushing herself up, and then yelps, barely dodging another laser blast. The sword keeps her back stiff, making it hard to jump; she yanks it off with a growl and tosses it into the trees before running back in.

* * *

“...Why.”

Scorpia shrugs, looking at Entrapta, who’s hugging boxes. “She wanted stuff from her castle. I think she’s just really happy to see it again.”

Adora sighs, shaking her head. “Okay. As long as—”

A loud beep echoes from one of the screens. “Oh, that’s the bots I sent out earlier!” Entrapta grabs a controller and presses a button, bringing up a live feed from one of the bots. “Hmn, looks like one of them is offline—”

Claws rake across the camera of the one they’re looking through, breaking the screen. “Catra,” Adora mutters as Entrapta switches to the last remaining camera.

“Wow, she’s really bendy.”

They watch as Catra jumps and dodges blasts, taking out a leg on the bot they’re looking through and nearly ripping open the second one. “What are her claws made of?” Scorpia asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Entrapta, can you get coordinates to those bots?”

The princess looks over at Adora in surprise. “Sure, shouldn’t be a problem. Although she’s probably not going to stick around if she beats them.”

“She’s there for a reason. Something tells me she won’t go far.”

* * *

Catra ducks a swept out bot leg, then punches the bot in the lens before clawing through the body. Something short circuits in the bot, and she just barely gets out of the way before it explodes. The remaining bot is rattled long enough for her to take that one out as well.

“I swear my life is a joke,” she mutters as she goes to retrieve the sword from where she threw it, then returns to the tracker pad to call Bow and Glimmer. They pick up on the first ring.

“ _Are you okay?_ ”

“I’d say I’ve had better years, but that’s a lie.”

“ _But you took out the bots, right? Did you use the sword? Ooooooh, did you transform?_ ”

“Eeeeeeeehhhhh.” Catra lets her eyes drift to the side. “I sorta forgot about it.”

Bow and Glimmer both smack their palms against their foreheads. “ _How do you_ forget _that you turn into an eight-foot-tall super princess?_ ”

“I dunno, I was busy!” Catra huffs, resting her head in her hands. “Maybe Light Hope’s got a point about staying here and learning.”

“ _But for years?_ ” Glimmer’s voice is small.

“Aw, Sparkles. It’s okay, I know you’d miss me.”

Glimmer glares at her. “ _Do you_ have _to ruin everything_?”

“It’s part of my existence, yes.” Catra shrugs, looking back at the castle behind her. “I dunno if I want to be trapped here with Light Hope for _years_. She’d drive me insane.”

“ _Why can’t you just come home at night and go there during the day?_ ”

“I dunno. Some super secret training thing? Or she knows I might not _find_ the place again. I think I got lucky this time.”

“ _Maybe you should come home,”_ Bow says. “ _Something feels weird about all this. Where’s your mask?_ ”

“Huh?” Catra touches her head. “Oh, it… came off while I was talking to Light Hope. I must’ve left it in there with my bag.”

“ _It_ came off _while you were_ talking _? I’ve seen you jump from balconies thirty feet off the ground and it doesn’t budge._ ” Bow sounds skeptical. Catra doesn’t blame him. But something in her is fighting against telling them what Light Hope had said about the magicats.

“I’m going to talk to her again. See if I can make some more sense out of this crap.”

“ _Are you sure you’re okay, Catra?_ ”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry so much. I’ll call you back when I get a chance.”

“ _Okay_ …”

She ends the call and sighs, closing her eyes. “You suck at sneaking around,” she calls into the trees. “The _bots_ have lighter feet than you, for fuck’s sake.”

One eye opens to watch Adora step out of the brush, her expression flat. “Didn’t ask your friends to come help?”

“No, I’m pretty sure I can take you on my own. What are you doing here, Adora? Don’t tell me you’re trying to save me from the evil brainwashing princesses because I’m already having a really bad day and I don’t need that.”

“No, I get it now.” The words surprise Catra. “You’re not being brainwashed.”

“You… huh?”

“Shadow Weaver told me the truth.” Adora approaches. There’s something very eerily calm about her demeanor. Catra stands slowly, sword in hand. “Everything, _all_ of this… you did it on your own. You… really believe there’s _nothing_ for you in the Fright Zone, don’t you?”

Catra winces. “I’ll never be safe there, Adora. Even with Shadow Weaver down, there’s still Hordak. Do you really think he’s going to let me walk around knowing what kind of power I have?”

“What kind of power _do_ you have?” Adora sounds a bit desperate. “I don’t understand any of this, Catra. What happened in Bright Moon? What was that?”

“It’s a long story,” Catra shot back, frustrated. “I don’t even understand half of it.”

“Then why are you… _doing_ this?”

“Because what’s the alternative? Go back to the Horde? Have you _still_ not realized you’re on the wrong side? Seriously?”

Adora shakes her head furiously. “That doesn’t matter—”

“Look _around_ us, Adora!” Catra throws her hand up. “Look at what you did to the Whispering Woods!”

“That was an accident!”

“And invading Bright Moon?”

“They’re the _enemy_!”

Catra sighs heavily. “That doesn’t mean the Horde is right.”

“At least the Horde doesn’t _abandon_ people,” Adora snaps back bitterly. Catra’s ears flatten against her head.

“I didn’t _abandon_ you—”

“I wasn’t talking about you, actually. But now that you bring it up, yeah, you did kind of betray me, didn’t you?”

Catra blinks a few times, bewildered. “What… What do you mean?”

Adora raises an eyebrow, almost looking amused. “Did your princess friends not tell you they left someone behind when they were rescuing you?”

“Left someone be—” Catra cuts off abruptly, struggling not to hyperventilate. Her insides are suddenly frozen. No. No, no, no. “En… Entrapta?”

“She’s been very nice and helpful. Really loving the tech around the forge.”

Catra can barely hear Adora over the rush in her ears. Entrapta is alive. _Entrapta is alive_. “The princesses didn’t tell you about that, did they?”

“You sent them through the vent system.” Catra’s voice is faint. “Entrapta got stuck. They thought she was…”

Entrapta is alive. Entrapta is helping the Horde. Catra’s hands are shaking. Adora seems satisfied. “Will you _please_ come home, Catra? No one is going to hurt you. I won’t let them. I promise.”

Catra shakes her head. “No. No, just because you’ve been nice to Entrapta doesn’t mean it’s safe. The Horde is still trying to take over Etheria. All of this—” She waves her hand around again, “is all because of the Horde. You let Entrapta mess with the black garnet, didn’t you?”

“It was an accident,” Adora defends herself. “And this is a war, Catra. Sometimes damage happens. That doesn’t mean the princesses are right.”

“I trust them more than I trust the Horde.”

Hurt flickers across Adora’s expression. “You can’t mean that.”

“Sure I can. And I do. Hordak is still evil, Adora—”

She cuts off as Adora shakes her head furiously, pulling her staff from her jacket. “This isn’t about that,” she says again, quieter.

“ _Adora_ —”

She’s cut off by Adora jumping forward, and quickly brings the sword up to block the attack, shoving Adora off. “Come on, Adora! Use your _head_! Do you really think I’d defect for no reason?”

“I didn’t,” Adora shoots back. “But I’m not entirely sure, anymore.”

That hurts more than Catra expects. “Adora—”

The blow is stronger this time, knocking Catra back. She stumbles, fingers clenched around the sheathed sword. “You really think I’d turn on _you_?”

“I don’t know, Catra. You kind of already have.”

Catra presses against the door of the castle, grimacing — then yells as it opens and she topples in. Adora trips, landing on top of her. They groan as the doors close. “Ow,” Adora mutters, lifting her head.

“The hell are _you_ complaining about,” Catra mutters, voice muffled. “I’m the one who had a fucking tank drop on me.”

Adora ignores her. “Where are we? Is… Is this a First Ones’ temple?” Her mind is already lighting up with ideas. If there’s _anything_ in here she could get Entrapta…

The weight on Catra disappears very suddenly as Adora jolts forward, running toward the atrium. “ _Adora_!” Catra bolts after her. “Adora, _stop_ , you can’t just run blind into everything!”

She catches up and tackles Adora, sending them rolling across the floor. Adora uses her weight and the momentum to throw Catra off, giving her a moment to look around.

“Intruder detected.” Catra snaps around to see the hologram back up, eyes glowing. “Security protocols activated.”

“No!” Catra says quickly, scrambling up. “No no no no no no no! She’s not an intruder, she’s just an idiot!”

“Query not recognized.”

Catra is not going to let this castle kill Adora. That’s her job.

She dives for the sword, unsheathing it and yelling, “For the honor of Grayskull!”

Adora covers her eyes as light fills the room. It’s barely faded before Catra shouts, “ _Disable security protocols_!”

There’s a long moment of silence. “Disabling security protocols,” the hologram finally says. Catra drops her head to the ground and sprawls out, relieved. Fast footsteps draw her attention; Adora is moving toward one of the triangular pillars.

“Hey, what’re you doing?” Catra demands, scrambling up.

“None of your business.”

Catra moves fast, grabbing her by the jacket and shoving her into the pillar. “Actually, it _is_ my business, because _you_ don’t belong here.”

“Then let me go and I’ll _leave_.”

She emphasizes the last word by kneeing Catra in the stomach. Catra loses her grip, wheezing, and Adora turns; Catra had knocked a chip loose when she’d thrown Adora into the wall. Adora grabs it now, shoving it in her pocket and smiling smugly.

 _Entrapta can’t say I never get her anything_.

“Put it back,” Catra says coldly.

“Make me.”

And with that, Adora takes off, running back to the hall. Catra hurries after her, scowling. She catches up again near the door, and they go tumbling back out into the woods when Catra tackles her. “Sorry, Catra,” Adora grunts as they wrestle. “But I really don’t have time for this.”

She pulls the stun baton off her belt and gets Catra right in the chest; Catra falls back with a pained scream, changing back to normal, and _barely_ holding on to consciousness. She can’t do anything to stop Adora from getting away, though.

“Fuck me,” she mumbles, forcing her limbs to work and drag her back into the castle. Light Hope is waiting for her. “Couldn’t you have locked the doors or something?”

“Security protocols were disabled.”

“Are you fucking…” Catra groans, dragging a hand down her face. “Never mind. Fine. You want to train me? Train me. But we aren’t doing this _years_ bullshit. You have a month.”

“A month is not long enough—”

“Don’t care. Cram what you can into a month.” Catra straightens up, walking passed the AI. “Let’s go.”


	15. Sins of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “There’s no sign of the Horde,” Bow says, looking around corners. “There’s no sign of any struggle at all. They just left.”
> 
> “Ooooh, it’s just like the story of the Headless Princess,” Catra says with a poorly concealed smirk. “She drags you out of your bed at night, and nothing is left behind but bloody footprints.”
> 
> They all pause before looking at the floor. It’s clean. “Who told you these stories?”
> 
> “Shadow Weaver.”
> 
> “Of course.”

_**One Month Later** _

“Yah!”

Catra ducks, spinning out of the way of the attacking hologram and swinging the sword to strike back. “We’re working on defense today,” Light Hope reminds her, pausing the simulation. Catra sighs.

“Why shouldn’t I take an opening if I see one?”

“Because you need to learn defensive maneuvers as well. You’re supposed to be learning how to transform the sword.”

“Yeah, I know, I know.” Catra sighs, holding the sword up — and is pleased when it actually turns into a shield. “See, I’m getting there!”

The AI simply stares at her. “Still better than Shadow Weaver,” Catra mutters, changing the sword back. “Let’s just do this.”

The hologram reactivates, and Catra braces for the hit.

* * *

“ _Alive_?”

Bow nods, showing Glimmer and Angella the inside of the bot they had captured. “There’s only one person who knows how to meld modern tech and First One tech together like this. It has to be her. Maybe the Horde found her and is holding her hostage.”

“But she… I thought she…” Glimmer shakes her head. “We left her behind.”

“We didn’t know.” Bow rests a hand on her shoulder. “But we do now, and we can save her!”

“You are _not_ going back to the Fright Zone,” Angella says firmly. “That was dangerous enough once.”

“What if we wait for Catra? She knows the place, she could probably help. And it’s been a month! She should be back any day now.”

“No,” Angella repeats. “Not now. Not while we’re still recovering from the attack.”

She’s right, and Glimmer knows it. But the idea of leaving Entrapta there, forced to work and build weapons for the Horde… it makes her sick.

“We’ll figure something out,” Bow says confidently, turning back to the bot on his workshop table. They would save Entrapta. Somehow. They had to.

No one gets left behind.

* * *

“I still do not think it is wise for you to leave now,” Light Hope insists as Catra packs her bag.

“I told you a month, you got a month. I need to check in with everyone else. I’ll come back for more training later.”

She slips her mask on as if to confirm her decision, throws her bag over her shoulder, and makes her way to the exit. She knows Light Hope can control the doors, so it’s a little surprising when they actually open for her.

Fresh air became somewhat of a luxury in the last month. She had stepped out a couple times to call Bow and Glimmer, and once found a basket of berries and a pie waiting for her. She hadn’t questioned it. And the pie had been _really_ good.

So Catra can hardly be blamed for stopping to enjoy the soft breeze ruffling her hair and fur, the scent of the woods washing over her. They aren’t doing much better — recovery has been slow. And she knows the Horde has been sending bots on an almost regular basis.

Catra doesn’t want to linger in the woods; thankfully, they’re in a giving mood today and release her out to Bright Moon fairly quickly. She smiles a little when she sees the castle. It feels more like home than the Fright Zone ever did.

Glimmer must see her crossing the bridge, because she hears bells, her name, and then she’s being grabbed. One upside down teleport later, she’s deposited onto the floor of the war room, groaning.

“ _Why_.”

“Sorry!” Glimmer helps her up. “But it’s really important. Bow?”

Bow is sitting with Angella, almost vibrating with an anticipation. “It’s a long story, but we managed to capture a bot and not destroy it so I could bring it back and study it, and the tech in it was melded with First One’s tech and — well, we think Entrapta might be alive.”

They’re all a little surprised when Catra simply sighs, dropping into a chair. “Yeah. Adora told me.”

“ _What_?” Glimmer’s expression morphs into one of fury. “When?”

“Last month. After I hung up with you guys the second time. Bots must’ve had a tracker in them. We had the usual fight, you know, about which one of us is on the wrong side, and she made a comment about how at least the Horde doesn’t abandon people and…”

Catra’s voice drifts off, and she shrugs. “How could you not tell us? We need to rescue her! She could be hurt or-or—”

“She’s not a hostage,” Catra says simply, staring at the table. “The Horde has amazing tech, she’s having the time of her life. She’s the one who messed up the black garnet and set everything out of whack.”

“Entrapta… is working for the Horde?” Bow sounds like someone has just pulled the rug out from under him. “Entrapta betrayed us?”

“We betrayed her when we left her behind,” Glimmer says quietly.

They were all quiet for a long moment. “Then there’s nothing we can do,” Angella says. “She won’t leave if she doesn’t want to.”

“I’m going back to my workshop.” Bow absentmindedly scritches Catra’s ears before leaving. Catra wonders when she got used to that and stopped fighting.

“Glimmer, can you give us a moment?” Angella asks, leaning forward and resting her arms on the table. Glimmer blinks, surprised, but nods and disappears. Catra eyes the queen warily. Her expression is mostly concerned. “How are you?”

“Peachy,” Catra says, leaning back in her own seat. “Spent a month getting ordered around by an AI that couldn’t comprehend why I needed to _sleep_.” She pauses. “Actually, it wasn’t that different from the Horde, now that I think about it. Light Hope was kind of a less mean Shadow Weaver.”

“That’s not a flattering comparison.”

“She isn’t _that_ great.” Catra closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. “I’m just glad I get to sleep in a bed tonight. Think I’m getting spoiled here.”

A comfortable place to sleep is spoiled. Angella tries not to let her sadness show at the thought of that. “Are you feeling any more comfortable in your role?”

“You mean am I cool with having the weight of the world on my shoulders?” Catra shrugs. “Not really. But I’m getting better with the sword. I think I can actually fight with it now.”

She’s holding something back. Angella examines her face, frowning lightly. “Did something… happen?”

“No.” Catra pauses. “A… A little. Maybe. How much do you know about magicats?”

The question catches Angella off guard. “Not much, honestly. They closed themselves off from the world a long time ago.” Catra’s ears twitch; she looks away. “Why?”

“Something… Light Hope said about the split between the First Ones and the magicats. She made it sound a lot more like they purposely sabotaged the First Ones by running away.”

Interesting. Angella tilts her head. “No one really knows what caused the divide—”

“But Light Hope is an AI created by the First Ones. She’s probably the most reliable source there is, right?”

“I don’t know much about how that kind of technology works,” Angella admits. “But I imagine there must be some bias based on the creator. No one is capable of remaining completely objective.”

“Maybe,” Catra concedes in a mutter. She leans forward, resting her arms on the table and putting her head in her arms. “Shadow Weaver said all I do was hurt people.” Her voice bounces off the table. “What if she’s right? What if that’s just… just how I am? I’m fucked up and selfish because that’s how _all_ magicats are. It’s just in our DNA to be terrible.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Angella assures her. “And you _know_ something is wrong if you’re contemplating the idea that Shadow Weaver might be right.”

She has a point. Catra looks up again. There’s a rare moment of vulnerability in her gaze, allowing Angella to see all the pain and fear and sadness that’s built up. A month in isolation can’t have done her much good. “I guess,” she says slowly.

“Why don’t you go lie down? Get some sleep without a hologram bothering you.”

Catra almost smiles. “That sounds great. Thank you, your majesty.”

She’s halfway to her room before she stops, turns on her heel, and goes in a completely different direction.

“I can’t believe Entrapta betrayed us.” Bow’s voice is sad. The princess is practically his hero. He had only spent a moment in his workshop before giving up and going to Glimmer’s room.

“We left her behind first,” Glimmer says. Even if it had been an accident, they can’t deny it. They should have tried harder, they should have looked, they—

The spiraling thoughts are cut off by the door opening. Catra doesn’t pay either of them much mind as she drops her stuff by the door and jumps up to Glimmer’s bed. She curls up, tail wrapping around herself. Glimmer and Bow exchange small smiles, and Glimmer teleports them both up to the bed so they can lie down with Catra. She still doesn’t speak, but they see her relax before she falls asleep.

* * *

“Alwyn?” Catra leans on the table, staring at the map and yawning. “Isn’t that like, in the middle of nowhere?”

“Yes, and we’ve lost contact with them, which is concerning,” Angella says patiently. “It’s the farming and orchard hub for Etheria. We need to make sure they’re okay.”

“Oh!” Glimmer’s hand shoots up in the air. “Oh, oh, oh!”

“Glimmer, why are you trying to volunteer?” Catra asks, raising an eyebrow. “We’re the only people _here_.”

“I’m _trying_ to look proactive,” Glimmer hisses through her teeth. “Would it kill you to give that a shot?”

“I dunno, probably.”

Angella shakes her head, smiling slightly. “Glimmer, I’d like you, Catra, and Bow to visit Alwyn and find out why they’ve been out of contact.”

“Yes!” Glimmer says excitedly. “We’re going, let’s go!”

She grabs Bow and Catra by the shoulders and in a flash, they’re out on the edge of the Whispering Woods. “ _Sparkles_.” The word is half a growl, half a groan as Catra leans over to rest her hands on her knees. “We’ve _talked_ about this.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“Hang on, do you want to go back and get the sword?” Bow asks. Catra takes a few deep breaths before straightening up, trying to retain some dignity.

“Oh, yeah, check this out.”

She taps a small charm on her belt; it glows and grows into the sword, settling in her hand. “Cool, right?”

“Please tell me you learned more in a month than how to turn the sword into cool things.”

Catra shrugs, and the sword shifted back to the little charm — a cat with the Runestone on its stomach — and hooks it back on her belt. “This makes it easier to carry. It felt weird trying to fight with it strapped to my back.”

“As long as you have it, I guess.” Glimmer turns to look into the woods, grinning. “All right. Let’s do this.”

* * *

Adora stares at the paper in front of her for a long moment, narrowing her eyes. “You uh… you okay?” Scorpia asks.

“Shadow Weaver never mentioned how much _paperwork_ she did,” Adora grumbles, flipping to the next page. She’s not even sure what she’s reading anymore. She’s been doing this _all morning_. “No wonder she never had time to take over Etheria.”

“Have you slept?”

“No. I have to get all these stupid things done before I do anything again.” Adora chews on her pen for a moment. “I didn’t realize I was signing up to be Hordak’s personal assistant, too. What does he even do besides sit in shadows and look menacing?”

“Uh, Adora, maybe… don’t?” Scorpia suggests. “You know the walls have ears…”

“Good, then can the walls ask Hordak to sign off on things so I can figure stuff out?”

The vent above them bursts open, and Entrapta comes tumbling out. “Hey guys!”

“Why are you… you know you don’t have to sneak around the ducts anymore, right?”

“The ducts are faster.” Entrapta pushes herself up and begins walking around, checking through boxes. “I don’t have time to waste. I need a six-sided hex driver right now.”

“How many rooms have you broken into to find this… thing you need?”

“Counting this one? Eight.” Entrapta makes her way around the room, looking in places Adora wouldn’t even think to hide anything. Adora takes a deep breath, counting to five.

“Can’t you just make do with what you have? I know you’ve been stealing other stuff.”

“Of course I could, but it’s the principle of the matter. The right tool for the job.” Entrapta huffs, setting herself down on her feet — it’s so common to see her walking around on her hair that it’s weird when she’s _not_. “It’s fine, I saw one in Hordak’s lab. I’ll just borrow it from him.”

Adora is up in a flash, turning to face the princess. “You are _not_ borrowing anything from _Hordak_. He’s in charge around here, not _you_. You can’t just go around stealing everything you need. And _no one_ is allowed in Hordak’s sanctum without permission.”

“He calls his lab a sanctum?” That _would_ be the part she latches onto. “That’s so _cool_.”

“Entrapta, focus.” Adora doesn’t mean to snap. She really doesn’t. But she’s tired, and Entrapta grates on her nerves sometimes. “Tell me you won’t go into Hordak’s lab.”

“I won’t.”

“Say the words.”

Entrapta sighs heavily. “I won’t go into Hordak’s lab.”

“Thank you.” Adora flops down in her seat again, running a hand through her hair. “Scorpia, can you keep an eye on her?”

“Oh sure, absolutely, I—” She stops when she sees Entrapta is gone. “Will get on finding her right now!”

* * *

“Nice atmosphere,” Catra says as they walk along. The air around them has started to fog up, giving the trees an even creepier vibe. “Hey, Arrow Boy, you sure we’re on the right track?”

“Trackerpad never lies,” Bow says confidently.

“Have you ever been here?” Catra asks Glimmer.

“Yeah, a few times when I was really, really, really little. Like, I came with my dad. It’s basically just an orchard. A big, happy—”

She freezes as they step out into a clearing of houses with vines climbing the sides of the buildings. “Creepy orchard.”

Catra’s ears twitch, and she grimaces, raising her hands to cover them. “What’s wrong?” Bow asks.

“I’m not sure. It’s like a hum or something?”

Glimmer and Bow look around, trying to listen. “I got nothing,” Bow says finally, looking back at his trackerpad. “ _But_ I upgraded my trackerpad to detect Horde signals and anomalies. If they’re here, we’ll find them.”

He taps away on the screen, which suddenly starts screeching. Catra yelps, clamping her ears against her head. Bow trips back, falling and grabbing his trackerpad before it hits the ground. “Aw man, I must’ve broken it during the upgrade,” he mutters as he stands. “Not to worry, though, I’ll fix it.”

Catra glares at him as he tries to bring the screen back, but all he can get is wavy lines. “Uh… I can’t fix this,” he says after a minute.

“Great.” Catra starts into the village, ears still twitching. She can hear something and it _bothers_ her.

“It’ll be fine,” Glimmer adds confidently. “Nothing gets passed us.” Nature is apparently determined to prove her wrong, kicking up a strong gust of air. “Not even scary ghost stories.”

“Oooooh, ghost stories?” Catra grinned. “Ever heard the one about the Weeping Princess?”

“The what?”

“She’s a vengeful spirit who roams Etheria, looking for victims.” Catra puts on her best Shadow Weaver impersonation as she speaks. “You know she’s coming for you by the sound of weeping right before she strikes.”

A voice carries on the breeze; Catra jumps, looking around. “What?!” Bow knocks an arrow into place while Glimmer’s hands light up. “Is it the Weeping Princess?!”

“No, but I heard… something.” Catra frowns deeply. “Come on.”

They approach a house, trying to look everywhere at once. Bow peeks through the window, then knocks on the door. No answer. He turns the knob; it opens with ease.

“Uh… that’s probably fine,” Catra says, claws slowly unsheathing.

“Yeah, totally.”

“Come on, guys.” Glimmer steps forward. “On three. One, two, _three_!”

She teleports in while Bow and Catra rush the door, prepared for a fight… and find an empty house with a full meal set out on the table. Catra sniffs, and wrinkles her nose, walking to the food. “Cold,” she says as she inspects it. “They left in a hurry.”

“There’s no sign of the Horde,” Bow says, looking around corners. “There’s no sign of any struggle at all. They just left.”

“Ooooh, it’s just like the story of the Headless Princess,” Catra says with a poorly concealed smirk. “She drags you out of your bed at night, and nothing is left behind but bloody footprints.”

They all pause before looking at the floor. It’s clean. “Who told you these stories?”

“Shadow Weaver.”

“Of course.”

“How many stories were there?” Bow asks, slightly nervously, as they leave the house to keep exploring.

“Oh, tons. You don’t think they just straight up say princesses are evil, right? They give us _proof_.” Catra snickers. “Adora used to freak out and make me sleep in her bed with her because she _swore_ she heard the Undead Princess.”

“The Undead—”

“Please don’t ask,” Glimmer interrupts, her voice hopping up an octave.

They walk in silence for a few moments, looking around uncertainly. “Hey, guys?”

Bow’s half-yell catches Catra off guard this time as well — she and Glimmer scream as they jump together, holding on as if their lives depend on it. “Sorry,” Bow says before pointing with his arrow. “Does that look familiar to you?”

They turn and look at the spire sticking out of the ground. Catra tilts her head, looking it up and down.

“I dunno…”

_Bang!_

They yell again and whirl around, trying to find the source of the noise — a window shutter moving in the wind. “I hate this place,” Catra mutters, looking around. “Hey, Sparkles, it’s safe to come out of hiding.”

“I wasn’t hiding!” Glimmer protests as she reappears. “I was just, uh… scouting ahead?”

“Sure. Then maybe you can _lead_ us ahead.”

“I can,” Glimmer says, taking a confident step forward. “Something happened here that forced these people to flee their home. We have to get to the bottom of this.”

“Just don’t scout too far ahead on us. We might get lost.”

Catra’s trying to joke, but the hum is still echoing in her ears, and it’s starting to get to her. _What_ is going on?

“Did you see that?” Glimmer asks suddenly, turning toward the woods. Catra and Bow stop to look in the same direction — and see a flash of movement. They all scream. Catra fumbles to unclip the charm from her belt.

“For the honor of Grayskull!”

Glimmer and Bow are momentarily distracted by the transformation. “Wow, you’re getting good at that.”

She sprints off into the forest, leaving the two of them behind to yell, “Wait up!” and run after her.

Catra doesn’t get far before she stops, looking around. Something is off. There are sounds, but no scent. That’s almost impossible. Even Light Hope has a scent. It’s _weird_ , like the smell of lightning right before a storm, but it’s a scent. “Catra?” Bow and Glimmer catch up with her. “What—”

Something appears in front of them — they all shriek, and Catra waves the sword wildly, staggering back. “I hate being tall!”

“Did you get it?”

“I don’t think so!”

Glimmer grabs Bow and Catra, teleporting them to hide behind a tree. “This is the worst,” Catra groans, looking around warily. “Nothing makes sense here.”

Glimmer is curling against Bow, trembling. Bow is frowning as he examines the area, trying to put the pieces together. Something isn’t right…

A ghostly figure appears in front of them. Catra jumps out automatically, swinging at it with the sword — and through it. The tip of the sword cuts through roots on the ground, and lines in the ground begin to glow.

“That’s it!”

Bow hurries out from behind the tree, Glimmer still clinging to him. “It’s a First Ones ruin. These are holograms!”

 _Oh_. Catra looks closer, narrowing her eyes. “They don’t have scents.”

“They’re running on a loop.” Bow gently detaches Glimmer from his shirt and steps forward. “Glimmer, look.”

The princess hesitates before opening her eyes one at a time. She relaxes slightly, smiling. “Aw, she’s waving.” She waves back for a moment before blinking. “Actually, still creepy.”

“I think I know where they’re coming from.” Bow turned to head back to the village. “Alwyn must have been built on top of a First Ones’ communication hub.” He knelt near the spire, clearing away the roots. “It must have reactivated when Entrapta messed with the planet.”

Catra looks around at the figures, frowning a bit. “So these are… First Ones?”

“Must be, yeah.”

Glimmer tilts her head, watching Catra. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… it’s fine.” Catra looks away, staring at the ground. Bow looks at Glimmer, who shrugs sadly in return.

“Come on. Let’s get this thing shut down, send a message to the villagers, and get home.”

* * *

“Scorpia?”

“Yeah?”

“Where’s Entrapta?”

The force captains look at each other for a long moment. “Uh, well… I… don’t know,” Scorpia finally admits, losing her grip on the folders and sending papers tumbling to the ground. “But I’ll get on that!”

“You were supposed to get on that _hours_ ago,” Adora says snippily.

“Well, she was just looking for a tool! How much trouble could she really get in?”

Adora can _feel_ her mouth going dry. “She broke into Hordak’s lab.”

“We don’t know that—” Scorpia starts to say soothingly, but Adora is already pushing passed her and running down the hall.

And there she is, Adora thinks as she barrels through the door, seeing Entrapta kneeling over some wires. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

“I’m so sorry, Lord Hordak!” She almost trips in her haste to get to them. “Entrapta’s new here, she doesn’t mean any—”

“Do you _need_ something, Force Captain?”

Adora pulls up short, blinking in surprise. “I was just… going to take Entrapta back to her lab.”

“I don’t recall asking you to do that.” Hordak turns to face Adora. She steps back instinctively. “Nor do I recall asking for your intrusion. _Entrapta_ is helping me with my work. Unless you can offer the same assistance, I suggest you leave.”

Entrapta is whispering to Emily when Adora looks at her, then back at Scorpia, who shrugs. Finally, her eyes settle on Hordak again, and she nods.

“Yes, Lord Hordak,” she mumbles, turning and walking out with Scorpia behind her.

* * *

They had left Bow to fiddle in his workshop with his broken trackerpad, retreating up to their rooms. Glimmer asked Catra if she wanted company, but she had turned it down.

Several hours later, Catra regrets that.

She’s sitting in the nook near the window, staring out at the woods without really seeing them. Her room feels too big, too lonely. She misses the barracks. She misses the squeaking pipes and thrum of machinery that ushered her to sleep every night at the foot of Adora’s bed. Bright Moon is too quiet. And she doesn’t want to be alone.

Glimmer is almost asleep when her bedroom door opens. For a moment she panics, thinking of all the ghost stories Catra had been telling earlier. Then a small, lithe shadow jumps up to the end of her bed and curls up, head resting in its arms. Glimmer shifts so she can lie down with her head close to Catra’s.

“What’s going on?” Catra shrugs, closing her eyes. “Catra, can you be less you for a few minutes and talk to me?”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Sparkles.”

Glimmer rolls her eyes. “Catra. Please?”

Catra doesn’t answer for a long moment; Glimmer is ready to give up and just close her eyes when she finally breaks the silence.

“Light Hope told me more about the history between the First Ones and the magicats.” The tone of her voice indicates that nothing good is going to come from this conversation. “The magicats didn’t just separate themselves, they purposely sabotaged the First Ones by taking the mask. The She-Ra before me couldn’t, you know, properly access all of her powers because she only had one piece, and it… she couldn’t handle it. I’m not exactly sure what happened, Light Hope was vague on the details, but basically she trapped us here alone in another dimension, away from any other planets or other life or… anything.”

She sighs, closing her eyes. “If the magicats really were… like that… what if I am too? What if I’m just a bad person? How am I supposed to make up for all of this? The magicats took the mask knowing She-Ra wouldn’t be able to function without it, and Mara trapped us in this place because of it, and now there’s a war, and _none_ of this would have happened if the magicats hadn’t run away.”

“That doesn’t mean _you’re_ bad,” Glimmer says quietly, scratching Catra’s ears. “You aren’t responsible for choices people made a thousand years ago. And I don’t think anyone is just, you know, bad by nature.”

“Shadow Weaver might be.”

Glimmer shoves Catra’s shoulder. She opens her eyes, smiling a bit at the princess. “Thanks, Sparkles.”

“Any time.”


	16. Chasing Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know, no one _really_ knows the history between the First Ones and the magicats—”
> 
> “I _know_ ,” Catra groans, resting her head in her hands. “I know, I know, I _know_ , the magicats disappeared and the First Ones wrote the history, and everyone is biased and _none of that makes it any better_!”
> 
> Perfuma pauses, a sad look flashing in her eyes. Catra would have hated that if she saw it. “You’re right,” she says finally. “You don’t need to hear the same thing over and over.” Catra doesn’t answer. “What _do_ you need?”
> 
> “I… I don’t know.” Catra looks up again; her expression is the picture of despair. Perfuma wonders how long this has been eating at her. “Answers? But nobody has those.”
> 
> “Unfortunately, I can’t give you that peace of mind.” Perfuma sounds truly regretful. Catra looks out into the water; a small, humorless smile pulls at her lips.

She’s standing in one of the halls in the Fright Zone. She doesn’t remember getting here, and she’s a little freaked out.

“Hello? Uh, anyone home?”

“Hey, Catra.”

She whips around, tail lashing behind her, to see Adora standing there, smiling that dumb, innocent smile that made Catra want to strangle her sometimes. “Adora.” She steps forward, reaching out — and freezes when she sees shadows climbing up the blonde’s legs. “Watch out!”

The smile is turning cruel. “What’s wrong, Catra?” There’s an echo in her voice. “Don’t you want to come home?”

Catra backs up, on the edge of hyperventilating. Adora’s soft blue eyes are starting to glow red. Shadows spring from the outstretched hand, wrapping around Catra’s arm and dragging her forward.

“No, stop—”

Catra shoots up with a yelp, head snapping around, momentarily disoriented. She’s in a tent. Bow and Glimmer are to her left, still sleeping. They’ve been staking out a nearby tower to bring it back under rebel control. Right.

She takes a few deep breaths and pushes herself up, heading out of the tent. She feels slightly exposed, being out in only her pajamas and no weapons besides her claws. But honestly, what’s going to attack them here? Besides the Horde, and it’s too early even for them. The sun is barely beginning rise. No one is crazy enough to be awake this early.

“Good morning, Catra!”

Almost no one. Catra sighs, turning to look at Perfuma. The only people she wants to see before sunrise are Mermista and Frosta — they’re just as grumpy as she is.

“Good might be a little optimistic,” Catra mutters, yawning. She’s not sure Perfuma hears her.

“I was going to do some meditating by that cute pond we found yesterday. Would you like to join me?”

“Meditating?”

Catra doesn’t really blame Perfuma for interpreting her disbelief as a lack of understanding. The Horde doesn’t do meditation, after all. “It’s a great chance to collect yourself before the day starts and reflect on what you think you can do better.”

All of that sounds absolutely terrible. “I’ll pass,” Catra says, stepping back. “You have fun, though.”

“Thank you!”

Catra watches Perfuma walk away, and turns back to her tent. It feels less claustrophobic now, not that she’s staying. She dresses quickly before ducking out again, fixing her mask on her head and starting off toward the tower. She’s not going to engage, but it’s good to keep an eye on things. Scorpia, Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio had gotten there the day before, with no sign of Adora. It looks like Scorpia is in charge, and Lonnie is incredibly unamused. Catra doesn’t blame her; Scorpia doesn’t seem like the most solid leader, and Lonnie’s patience seems to have thinned even further.

Apparently it really is too early for the Horde — there isn’t even anyone out on the walkway. Catra settles in to watch; probably not the best use of her time, but she’d rather be here than back at the camp when the princesses and Bow started planning again. Bow had carved these little dolls that he loves to use in the planning process, and Catra just doesn’t have the patience for everyone trying to take over and insert their own plan. They probably needed a leader or something.

She watches the base for a while, until the first signs of life begin to stir. She’s sure people at the camp are starting to wake up as well. She should go back…

Instead, of course, she turns and heads off in another direction, to that pond Perfuma had mentioned. Flower Power isn’t necessarily her first choice for company, but being around her is actually kind of relaxing — when she doesn’t talk.

The princess is still there when Catra lands lightly on a branch close to the water. She’s sitting cross-legged, hands resting on her knees, facing the pond. Catra watches her for a moment, head cocked, then slowly settles on the branch, back against the trunk, enjoying the moment of peace. No planning, no arguing, no _“Catra what do you think?”_ like she has any freaking clue…

“You seem quite at peace.”

Catra jumps, looking down at Perfuma. She was still looking out at the pond. “How did you—?”

Perfuma moves a hand to tap the ground. “The tree is enjoying your purring.”

She’s purring? Catra shakes her head, stamping down on the sound. “So this is meditating?” she asks, deflecting. Perfuma turns to face her.

“It is. Are you sure you don’t want to join me?”

Catra watches her for a moment, then jumps down to sit with her. “You just… sit and think?”

“That’s the basic version of it, yes,” Perfuma says cheerfully. She’s always so cheerful. Catra doesn’t understand it.

“What am I supposed to think about?”

“Whatever is helpful. A problem that’s bothering you, perhaps, or something about yourself want to improve upon.”

There are too many of both of those, Catra thinks miserably, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand, watching the ripples in the water. “Or,” Perfuma continues gently, “you can talk about things that are bothering you.”

“Talk to who?”

“Me, since I’m offering.”

Catra eyes her uncertainly, ears twitching in automatic reaction to all the small noises around her. “I don’t think talking is really going to do any good.”

“You never know,” Perfuma says. “But we can just meditate if you prefer that.”

“Sure.” Catra settled into a similar position, closing her eyes. _Think about things. Thing. Am I supposed to focus on one thing? Does she even know how many freaking problems I have? I should be helping with planning this fight. Or getting ready for the fight. Whatever. Adora isn’t there, so at least I don’t have to worry about her. Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle are, though. How do I keep ending up fighting_ them _? I think I’d rather deal with Adora. No, I wouldn’t. That’s worse. I don’t_ get _her. She said she knows the princesses aren’t controlling me, so what’s her deal? There’s no way she thinks the Horde is_ right _. Is she just being stubborn? Doesn’t want to admit she’s wrong? I mean, I don’t blame her, being wrong sucks, but she’s taking this kind of far_ —

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk?” Perfuma asks gently. Catra blinks, realizing her tail is thumping against the grass, clearly agitated.

“I… ugh!” Catra growls, standing abruptly and walking to the treeline. She pauses, then walks back to the pond, and repeats. “I don’t know. I don’t _know_.”

“What don’t you know?”

“Anything!” Catra throws her hands in the air. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to take back this tower, I don’t know how to deal with Adora, I don’t know how to be a good fucking _hero_ , I don’t know what to do about the Horde, or, or…”

She falters for a moment, stopping and yanking the mask off her head. “I don’t know what to think about anything.”

Perfuma watches her silently the entire time, letting her vent without interruption. It’s nice, Catra thinks. Glimmer and Bow would have stopped her and tried to reassure before she even started.

“Is _anything_ something specific?” she finally asks when it’s clear Catra isn’t going to speak again.

“It’s… I…”

Catra pauses, then sighs, dropping to sit with Perfuma again. “I… learned some stuff about the First Ones and magicats…”

She slowly tells Perfuma the story Light Hope had told her. The princess listened thoughtfully, head tilted, making sure Catra had said everything she wanted to say before she tries to speak again.

“You know, no one _really_ knows the history between the First Ones and the magicats—”

“I _know_ ,” Catra groans, resting her head in her hands. “I know, I know, I _know_ , the magicats disappeared and the First Ones wrote the history, and everyone is biased and _none of that makes it any better_!”

Perfuma pauses, a sad look flashing in her eyes. Catra would have hated that if she saw it. “You’re right,” she says finally. “You don’t need to hear the same thing over and over.” Catra doesn’t answer. “What _do_ you need?”

“I… I don’t know.” Catra looks up again; her expression is the picture of despair. Perfuma wonders how long this has been eating at her. “Answers? But nobody has those.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t give you that peace of mind.” Perfuma sounds truly regretful. Catra looks out into the water; a small, humorless smile pulls at her lips.

“You know what’s _really_ messed up?”

“What?”

“I wish I could talk to Shadow Weaver.” Perfuma blinks, surprised. “Not that I _miss_ her or anything, but she… raised me. Using that word loosely. I don’t know how I ended up in the Fright Zone, but I don’t think I was born there. And if anyone would have answers, it’s her.”

“Do you… remember anything before Shadow Weaver or the Fright Zone?”

Catra grinds the heels of her palms into her eyes. “Kind of? Sometimes I have these dreams about — about lights, and if I focus really hard I can hear voices, but they’re not voices I _know_. But they’re not strangers either. Does that make sense?”

“You know them when you’re dreaming, but you don’t consciously recall the knowledge when you’re awake?” Perfuma guesses. Catra nods slowly. “I understand that. My grandparents died when I was _really_ young, but sometimes I have dreams about them, and I hear their voices. I couldn’t tell you what they sound like, but when I have the dreams, I recognize them.”

“Nice to know I’m not losing my mind,” Catra murmurs, sighing. “If I had a life before the Fright Zone, Shadow Weaver would know about it. Not that she would tell me even if I _could_ ask her…”

“That’s frustrating,” Perfuma says. “You deserve answers.”

“Yeah, well… the world doesn’t generally give me what I deserve.”

“I know.” Perfuma rested a gentle hand on Catra’s shoulders. “That doesn’t mean you can’t be upset about it, though.”

“ _You’re_ telling me it’s okay to be upset? I thought you were all about peace and love?”

“Those are great things,” Perfuma says slowly, “if they’re what you feel or what you want to feel. All emotions should be felt. It’s the only way to move on from things.”

She doesn’t have time to be upset, Catra thinks bitterly. There’s still a war to deal with. She can be upset after.

Perfuma’s eyes wander up Catra’s face a little. Catra raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“Can… Can I pet your ears?”

Catra sighs heavily. “What is it with people outside of the Horde and my _ears_?” Perfuma smiles hopefully. “ _Fine_.”

The princess squeals, shifting to happily pet Catra’s head for a few minutes.

They ambush the tower toward the end of the day. Scorpia isn’t exactly a mastermind, as it turns out.

“You look so fucking stupid,” Lonnie says with a snort when she sees Catra.

“Yeah, but I have a giant sword and you have—” They struggle for a moment before Catra kicks the stun baton from Lonnie’s hands, “nothing. Soooooo.”

She picks the girl up by her shirt and slams her into Rogelio, knocking them both over. It’s pretty satisfying. She doesn’t bother with Kyle when he tries to confront her; hurting him knowing about the role he played in her rescue from Shadow Weaver is a little awkward.

* * *

“ _How_ did you lose the tower?”

Scorpia winces, rubbing the back of her head. “The princesses ambushed us, and—”

Adora groans, covering her face. “I gave you guys _one job_ —”

“Force Captain Adora?”

She turns to see a soldier standing behind her. “Yeah?”

“Lord Hordak has summoned you.”

 _Great_. Adora looks at Scorpia, then back at the soldier, and nods, making her way out of the room and down the hall to Hordak’s lab.

“Lord Hordak.” She bows to the Horde leader, eyes flicking around. “Where’s Entrapta?”

“I’ve asked her to give us some time alone.” Something about the words sends a chill up Adora’s spine. “I was hoping you could explain what happened at the tower today.”

“I… I wasn’t there, sir. I left the job to Scorpia—”

“I specifically assigned it to _you_.”

Adora swallows hard, trying to keep her hands from trembling. “I know, my Lord. I’m sorry—”

“Then why weren’t _you_ there?”

The interruptions are starting to grate on her nerves. “I was looking into other things—”

“Would those _other things_ be part of your ulterior motives?”

Adora winces, chewing on her lip. She can’t lie, and they both know it. “Yes, my Lord. I was speaking with Shadow Weaver.”

“And did you learn anything that was worth compromising our claim of the tower?”

_Shadow Weaver looks up from the floor as Adora walks into her cell, staring down at her, expression unreadable. “Adora.” Her tone is undeniably fond in the face of her favorite ward._

_“I want to know about the sword. And the mask. I want to know about She-Ra.”_

_The sorceress sighs, almost put out. “You still haven’t let go of Catra? If you put half as much focus on anything else as you do her—”_

_“I’m not interested in career advice from someone who’s sitting in a prison cell,” Adora snaps, kneeling so she’s eye to eye with Shadow Weaver. “I spent so long defending you, telling her you just wanted her to be her best, that you cared, but it was all a lie. This is all your fault.”_

_Shadow Weaver laughs. “_ My _fault? I told you years ago that Catra is_ your _responsibility.”_

_“And I took care of her! I did everything I could to protect her from everything, from everyone here—” Adora cuts off, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter. I want to know more about She-Ra.”_

_“Very well. But I can’t promise you’ll like what you hear.” Adora settles in, icy gaze indicating that Shadow Weaver should keep talking. “The sword is the result of First One experimentation, forging a Runestone with their own technology and allowing the wielder to channel the power of the Runestone. The mask was a creation of the magicats, connected to the Runestone and allowing the person to access the power even without direct contact with the stone.”_

_“Magicats?” Adora frowns, turning the word around in her head. “That’s what Entrapta called Catra.”_

_“The princess actually knows something.” Shadow Weaver is almost impressed. “Yes, Catra is a magicat. I never would have imagined she would be able to tap into the mask’s power. Perhaps I underestimated her.”_

_“You didn’t know?” Adora sounds dubious._

_“She’s never shown any signs of power despite her heritage.” What a waste of time that had been._

_“But how did Catra end up here? How did the mask? Why would you let her keep it? What if — What if it’s been, I dunno, poisoning her mind, turning her against, making her…”_

_Adora’s voice drifts off as Shadow Weaver chuckles cruelly. “Adora.” Her voice is utterly patronizing. “Has Catra ever in her life done something she doesn’t want to do?”_

_The blonde’s shoulders fall, eyes dropping to stare at the ground. “No,” she says quietly._

_“Then perhaps it’s time you face the truth. Catra left the Horde of her own free will. She left you. How much more time are you going to waste trying to save someone who has no interest in being saved?”_

_Adora is quiet for a moment before standing, walking to the cell entrance. She doesn’t say another word to her former guardian as she brings the energy wall back to life and leaves the prison block._

“No,” she admits quietly. Hordak stood, walking slowly down the stairs from his throne to one of his machines. “But does one tower really matter? We’ve still taken so much land—”

He pulls a lever, and energy shimmers to life around Adora. “Etheria’s atmosphere has proven to be complicating variable in my experiments.”

Adora’s eyes scan the floor as debris starts to rise. The air fills thin. She coughs, trying to catch her breath. “I just removed that variable,” Hordak continues, watching Adora. “Tell me, Force Captain, how is your breathing?”

“I—” Adora coughs again, harder this time, her knees giving out beneath her. She watches Hordak step closer, circling her and watching her struggles. Is he really going to let her suffocate? For _one_ misstep? After _everything_ she had done?

“Pathetic,” he sneers. “Just like everything on this backwards planet. Do you know what the definition of failure is, Force Captain?”

He turns the machine off; Adora collapses forward, gasping, trying to fill her lungs.

“Failure is when something ceases to serve a purpose. When that happens, it becomes worthless to me. Thus far, your performance has been lacking.”

“I haven’t failed yet.” Adora’s voice is gravelly as she lifts herself, standing. “I haven’t failed until I’m dead.”

“Is that so?” Hordak’s hand is still on the lever. Adora tries to hide her anxiety, meeting his gaze. “You say you can defeat the Rebellion? Prove it.” He finally lets go of the lever. Adora relaxes noticeably. “You are dismissed.”

* * *

“Your majesty?”

Angella smiles, looking up at the girl sitting in the rafters. “Hello, Catra. Can’t sleep?”

It has become somewhat of a ritual, Catra coming to find Angella in front of Micah’s mural when she couldn’t sleep.

“No.” Catra’s tail swishes nervously behind her. “I… I still have have questions about the magicats, if you have time.”

“I appear to be free at the moment, yes. Why don’t you join me down here?” Catra jumps down to join Angella, settling on a bench across from the mural. “I’m afraid I don’t have many answers. As I said, the magicats were extremely private.”

“They had a kingdom, though, right? Half Moon? Entrapta mentioned it once. So if they had a kingdom, then they had a royal family, right?”

Angella nods. “They did. I met them once. It was… very brief.” She looks up at the mural of her husband, sighing. “Micah and I were trying to gather allies for the rebellion. We were approached by a Half Moon delegate with a message from the queen. She wanted to meet with us.”

Catra’s ears twitch; she straightens up slightly. “Wait have you _been_ there? Do you know where it is?”

“Yes, and no. We were teleported in and out of Half Moon. All I know about the location is that it’s somewhere underground.” Catra’s shoulders droop. “I’m sorry, Catra. I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want to get your hopes up about anything.”

“Keep your expectations low and you’ll never be disappointed,” Catra mutters. “But you met the queen?”

“And the princess.” Angella smiles fondly. “She was such a small little thing. Could have fit in the palm of my hand. This was about a year before Glimmer was born, so I imagine she’s grown up now as well. Stepped up to take her mother’s place, perhaps. The queen wasn’t in the best health when we met.”

“I’m guessing she wasn’t too open to joining the rebellion.”

“Not at all. She informed us that her ancestors had chosen a life of peace over the First Ones’ plans, and she had no intentions of breaking that now to get involved in our war.”

Annoyance boils in Catra’s chest. “Great, so maybe they weren’t evil, maybe they were just fucking cowards. Why even bother talking to you if that was all they wanted to say?”

“Likely to stop us from trying to find them and risk exposing the location of their kingdom. It was a frustrating response at the time, but… I understand now. She was scared for her people. For her daughter.”

Catra slips her mask off, glaring at it. Is this really the legacy of the magicats? A bunch of traitorous cowards who couldn’t be bothered to help fix a mess they may have caused?

“I know you don’t remember being rescued from the Fright Zone after the Princess Prom.” Catra goes stiff, jaw clenched. She still doesn’t like thinking about that. “But you were… very hurt. And Castaspella was angry. Which is no surprise, she blames me for Micah’s death. Ah.” Angella holds up a hand to cut whatever Catra is about to say. “It’s an old fight that will possibly never be resolved. She asked me why children are fighting this war, and I… did not have an answer. Not one I could admit to, anyway.

“They call me the coward queen, you know.” She smiles dismally. “And they’re right. I tried so hard for so long to keep Glimmer away from this fight, but she’s too much like her father. She doesn’t want to just support others. She wants to protect them. I let her take this fight. I let _you_ take this fight, Catra. And I am so, so very sorry.”

Catra tries to swallow around the lump in her throat. “It’s not like I’m not used to fighting.”

“I know.” Angella’s voice is dark. “The Horde raised you to be a soldier. You deserved better then, and you deserve better now.”

“It’s a war. Sometimes we don’t get the things we deserve.”

“You’re right.” Angella rests a hand on Catra’s head, her expression turning sad. “And I’m sorry that’s a lesson you had to learn.” Catra looks up at the mural, at the lost king. She’s spent so much time looking at it — it’s starting to feel like an old friend. “Try not to judge foolish old queens too harshly. As selfish as it is, we only ever wanted to protect our families.”

Catra doesn’t answer. They sit in silence for a long time, until she feels the unmistakable curl of fingers in hair, gentle nails brushing against the base of her ears. She almost laughs. “What is it with you people and my _ears_?”

“Well they _are_ quite fuzzy.” Angella smiles dryly. “You can’t tell me no one in the Horde _ever_ wanted to pet you.”

“Oh, kids used to dare each other to try.”

“Did anyone ever succeed?”

“Not unless I wanted them to. Adora was—” Catra stops abruptly, ducking her head and sighing. “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Angella doesn’t push the topic, thankfully. Catra doesn’t think she’s up for another heavy conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so like... drop a review, maybe? I've been having a hard time with motivation lately, and it would just... be really nice to hear from people, ya know? I know I don't always answer, and I'm sorry - things get crazy and tiring, but reading reviews is always the highlight of my day.
> 
> Either way, hope you enjoyed it <3


	17. Go North, Be Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls move at the same time, Adora pulling her staff and Catra producing a small keychain and shouting, “For the honor of Grayskull!”
> 
> She comes out of the transformation with her sword ready to meet Adora’s first blow. They leave the rest of their groups to deal with each other. “So how ya been?” Catra asks conversationally as they exchange strikes. “It’s been awhile.”
> 
> Adora responds by swinging her staff; Catra catches the hit with her sword, and stumbles back a little. Stupid _boots,_ stupid _snow_ … 
> 
> “What, no ‘just come home’ sales pitch?” She blocks another hit, trying not to let her worry show when she sees the look on Adora’s face. There’s something _off_ about it — a seriousness, a darkness Catra has never seen in her friend’s expression. “Adora?”
> 
> The staff comes at her again; this time she transforms the sword into a shield, deflecting the blow. “Like I said,” she hears Adora call over the snow, “I’m not really in the mood for stories.”
> 
> Catra looks around the shield, eyes narrowed; her stomach drops when she sees what the blonde is pulling from her pocket. “Adora, wait—”
> 
> Too late. She presses the disc against the runestone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say except I am definitely taking at least a month off between the end of this and the start of the next chapter, which has a title! _This Burden Came To Me_. Points to whoever can guess where I ripped these titles off from

“No.”

Glimmer sighs. “Catra—”

“No, absolutely not, I am _not_ going North, it’s too freaking cold, and that’s where the haunted base is.”

“Sooooooooo the savior of the universe doesn’t like a little snow and cold?”

“Nope.”

Bow snorts. Glimmer resists the urge to roll her eyes. Angella watches the trio from across the table, sipping tea and trying not to smile. “We don’t even have to go near the haunted Horde base. But we should really check out these readings.”

Catra rested her head in her arms, huffing. “You go, then. Do you know how cold it is there? I’m going to have to wear _boots_. I’ll have to _cover my feet_ , Glimmer.”

“I don’t think it’ll kill you.”

“It might! I’m not as fast in shoes as I am barefoot.”

“Yeah, well you won’t be fast at all if you get frostbite and your feet fall off.”

“Which is why the simplest solution is for me to not go.”

Glimmer glares at the girl. “So you’d let me and Bow go North, near a Horde base that, by your word, is haunted, _all_ by ourselves, and risk _never_ seeing us again instead of just putting on boots?”

“Yup.”

“Catra!”

“ _Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine_.”

* * *

Go North, Hordak said. Follow Entrapta, Hordak said. Find the First Ones’ tech she had tracked here.

“Why is it so _cold_?” Adora asks, kicking the heater. “Cheap Horde stuff. Entrapta, do you have _anything_ that might be a good heat source?” No answer. “Entrapta? Entrapta!”

She finally looks up from her computer. “Huh?”

Adora sighs. Dealing with her is exhausting sometimes. “How’s progress going with finding the weapon?”

“I never said it was a weapon,” Entrapta reminds her. “I said there's a piece of First Ones tech buried deep under the ice,” she pushes herself off from the desk, wheelie chair spinning across the room, “and a really powerful one at that! With the energy levels we picked up, it must have been part of the First Ones’ supercomputer.”

“Right,” Adora says. “Could you please just… focus? We’re going to freeze to death at this rate. And this place is _creepy_.”

* * *

“The Dragon's Daughter Five!”Sea Hawk said happily. “She cuts a fine line on the sea, does she not?”

“Fantastic,” Catra mutters, shivering. It’s cold, and they’re on water. Why is this allowed?

“Wait, what happened to the Dragon's Daughter Four?” Bow asks, then lit up. “Oh, oh, oh! Was it—” He straightens up, doing a poor imitation of the sea captain. “ _Adventure_?”

“No,” Sea Hawk says sadly. “Termites. I couldn't save the old girl.” He straightens up, beaming. Anyway, I'm honored to be a part of another daring mission for the Rebellion!”

Catra groans, leaning harder on the edge of the boat. “I want to die.”

“You’re _fine_.” Glimmer pats her back gently. “We’re almost there.”

“And it will be a glorious!” Sea Hawk announces from the wheel. Catra raises her head to glare at him, and he sobers up a little. “Truth be told, I was...glad to have something to do. Mermista canceled our plans this week and she's hanging out with her other friends, and didn't invite me to join, I…”

Glimmer appears at his side, and he jumps. “Well… let this mission distract you from all that. We received reports of Horde activity from the Northern Reach right before we left. They've set up some kind of outpost, but we have no idea know why.”

“That base has been abandoned for years,” Catra adds weakly. “There’s yearly maintenance, but no one hangs around there. It’s supposedly really creepy. I have no idea what’s out there for them.”

“It’s the Horde, so probably not anything good.”

* * *

“How does one person have this much technology and _no_ heater?” Adora asks herself as she walks around the boxes, prying them open. “Seriously, it’s freezing in here.”

“Heeeeeey Adora,” Scorpia calls as she steps out from behind some nearby boxes. “How’s it going?”

“Hi Scorpia,” Adora replies distantly, still looking through boxes. “Something tells me this is going to take awhile. Help me find a space heater or something. She _must_ have one, or some First Ones’ version of one.”

“Um, yeah, of course.” Scorpia laughs, rubbing the back of her head. “Hey so I’ve been thinking, you know, we… spend a lot of time together.”

“Yeah, we work together,” Adora reminds her distractedly.

“Ha, yeah. Yeah.” Scorpia agrees. “But I thought maybe we could, ya know… hang out outside of work a bit? Maybe, uh… play a board game or something?”

“A board game?” Adora opens another box, frowning.

“Yeah! Do people still play those?” She laughs, leaning against a pile of crates and knocked them over. A disc clattered out, skidding across the floor.

“Oh!” Entrapta hurries over, but Adora gets the disc first, stepping away. “ Aaah, careful with that! It's a rare First Ones artifact! I've been meaning to study it, but I haven't gotten the chance yet. The last time I deployed it, it ended up infecting my robots with some kind of… murder virus.”

“A murder virus?” Adora repeats, looking at the disc with a raised eyebrow. “So there are no blankets?”

“Oh, it’s a lot more than just a virus,” Entrapta says happily. “It effects Catra too. Or She-Ra, maybe, I’m not sure. She got kind of sick. I guess it was something to do with the connection between the mask and sword.”

That catches Adora’s attention. “It effects _Catra_ too? That’s… interesting.”

“I thought so too! Glimmer said I wasn’t allowed to experiment on her, though.”

“Is that so?” Adora asks slowly. “Well… let’s see what happens. _Glimmer_ isn’t in charge around here, after all.”

“So I, uh…”

Scorpia is cut off by the sound of alarms. “Uh oh.” Entrapta went back to her computers, wide-eyed.

“What’s happening?”

The princess taps away at the computer, frowning. “It's just a small bump. I'm sure it's fine. But… our drilling bots have gone offline. All of them. At once.” She brightens, looking back at the Force Captains. “Come on! We should go check this out.”

She jumps up, hurrying toward the exit. Adora sighs, grabbing another jacket. “This place is the worst.”

* * *

“Come to think of it, Mermista never invites me to hang out with her other friends. I mean,” Sea Hawk scoffs, “am I not cool enough for them? I'm so cool. I'm Sea Hawk!”

“You’re going to be buried in snow if you don’t shut up,” Catra grumbles, arms wrapped around herself. Her ears twitch, and she straightens up, looking around.

“Something wrong?” Glimmer calls over the rush of wind and snow.

“Something feels… off here.” Catra shakes her head, taking a deep breath. It’s similar to how she felt in Dryl, before she punched the infected robot.

“You know,” Sea Hawk says in a deep voice, “They say all sorts of strange things happen in the Northern Reach. Voices in the wind. Monsters in the snow. Machines break down. Sailors disappear.” His voices drops to a whisper, “without a trace.” And then he shouts, “we could be next!” Glimmer and Catra just stare at him, eyebrows raised. “I am cool, right? I am. Right?”

“My tracker pad's been on the fritz ever since that rogue communications hub messed with it,” Bow sighs. “I'm having trouble pinpointing the Horde's location.”

“Worry not,” Sea Hawk says, turning. “We’ll follow our instincts!” He points in probably the wrong direction. “This way!”

“Or,” Bow speaks up again, “there's this new signal, now. It's big. It looks like the First Ones tech signature.”

“Found the Horde,” Catra says, sighing.

* * *

“Well… the drilling bots are gone.”

“ _Gone_?” Adora repeats, looking into the giant hole. “Gone _how_? How do you lose giant drilling bots?”

“No clue!” Entrapta says happily. “Maybe there's scientific truth about the rumors of strange happenings in this region.”

“We’re not here to chase rumors, Entrapta.” Adora can’t help the edge of impatience. She’s cold and this place freaks her out. “Can you find the drilling bots, or has this all been a huge waste of—”

“Hey Adora.”

The trio whirls to see they’ve been joined on the bridge. “Catra.” There’s a mixture of sadness and anger and something no one can identify in Adora’s voice. Catra shoves her hands in her pockets, scowling. Adora looks her up and down for a minute, then smirks. “Cute boots.”

“Shut up.”

Adora steps closer, meeting Catra’s annoyed gaze. “When was the last time you wore shoes, anyway? Was it the stairs incident?”

Catra scoffs. “What, are you going to embarrass me to death with old stories?”

“I’m not really in the mood to tell stories. I’ll skip to the end where you needed ten stitches in your head.”

The girls move at the same time, Adora pulling her staff and Catra producing a small keychain and shouting, “For the honor of Grayskull!”

She comes out of the transformation with her sword ready to meet Adora’s first blow. They leave the rest of their groups to deal with each other. “So how ya been?” Catra asks conversationally as they exchange strikes. “It’s been awhile.”

Adora responds by swinging her staff; Catra catches the hit with her sword, and stumbles back a little. Stupid _boots,_ stupid _snow_ …

“What, no ‘just come home’ sales pitch?” She blocks another hit, trying not to let her worry show when she sees the look on Adora’s face. There’s something _off_ about it — a seriousness, a darkness Catra has never seen in her friend’s expression. “Adora?”

The staff comes at her again; this time she transforms the sword into a shield, deflecting the blow. “Like I said,” she hears Adora call over the snow, “I’m not really in the mood for stories.”

Catra looks around the shield, eyes narrowed; her stomach drops when she sees what the blonde is pulling from her pocket. “Adora, wait—”

Too late. She presses the disc against the runestone.

Electricity surges through Catra’s body; she yells in surprise, then pain, collapsing to her knees, red energy crackling around her body. “Catra!” Glimmer appears beside Adora, whirling to glare at her. “What did you _do_?!”

They watch, wide-eyed, as Catra slowly pulls herself up, laughing slightly maniacally. There’s a weird echo in her voice, like a robotic overlay. Bright red eyes fix on Adora.

“Damn it—”

She jumps back as Catra lunges at her, shield transforming back into a sword and striking the ground where Adora had been a moment before. She uses the cover of the snow to find Entrapta and Scorpia.

“What happened to making her sick?” Adora demands as she runs to them.

“Well, I _said_ it was effecting her through the mask, which is connected to the sword. She didn’t have the sword at the castle, though, so that was never directly exposed.”

“...Oh.” Adora might have missed that detail. She looks back when she hears Catra yelling again, and sees her closing on Glimmer. “Well, okay. This might work too.”

“Catra!” Glimmer dodges another blow, trying to appeal to her friend’s less maniacal side. “I know you don’t want to hurt me. Just let the sword go! We can fix this!”

“Been there, done that,” Adora mutters before raising her voice to address Entrapta. “What’s happening?”

“I’m not _entirely_ sure. The last time the disc was exposed to First One tech, it infected all of my robots, but like I said, Catra didn’t have the sword. It was like a secondary infection through the mask.”

They watch Bow, Glimmer, and Sea Hawk try to fight off the maniacal princess, wide-eyed. “So there was none of this?”

“Nope, this is new.”

“Interesting.”

The crack of ice snaps through the air, and they watch as the trio plummets into the hole and out of sight. “Yikes,” she muttered, looking back at Catra — then paling when she realizes they’ve been zeroed in on. “Uh oh.”

She hears Entrapta yelling in excitement and disbelief as Catra closes in on them, swinging the sword. Adora ducks under the swings, bringing her staff down on Catra’s back. She might as well have thrown a snowball. Catra whirls around, grabbing Adora’s arm and slamming her into a nearby cliff wall. Adora grunts, coughing as the wind is knocked out of her lungs, eyes snapping up to see Catra raising her sword and laughing.

“Catra, don’t—!”

There’s a blur of red as Scorpa tackles Catra from the side, taking her down. The sword goes flying out of her hands, and she collapses to the snow, changing back to her regular self, unconscious. “Nice save,” Adora says, pulling herself up. She walks over to the sword, stooping down to grab it, turning it in her hands. “Forget whatever’s buried in the ice, there’s no way it could be more valuable than _this_.”

“Beg to differ,” Entrapta speaks up. “Whatever’s under the ice could be world changing.”

“Seriously? _This_ is world changing. We have all of She-Ra’s power literally in the palms of our hands. Forget digging, unless you want to go down there and do it yourself. Let’s get out of this frozen hellscape and back to the Fright Zone.”

“But Hordak—”

“Can come here himself if he’s that interested.” Adora rolls her eyes. “I’m not going to freeze to death here over what ifs and maybes. Scorpia, you got Catra?”

“Yup.” Scorpia secures the girl over her shoulder, sighing. “Right here.”

“Great. Let’s get back inside and start packing.”

“Fascinating,” Entrapta says slowly as they walk. “It really is the sword that’s infected. I wonder why.”

“You can experiment all you want. Later.”

Entrapta’s computers are beeping when they get back into the base. She hurries over, tapping a few buttons. “It looks like the bots were able to pinpoint the First Ones tech before they disappeared. If you just give me a _little_ more time…”

Adora sighs, resting the sword on her shoulder. “Why? What else do we _need_ when we’ve got She-Ra?”

“I can think of plenty of things.”

Scorpia set Catra on the ground. This is _not_ how she planned for today to go. “So, she’s coming back with us?”

Adora looks at her, surprised. “Of course she is. I’ve been trying to get her for _months_ , I’m not letting go now.”

“Yeah, but that was when you thought the rebellion brainwashed her. But you know now that they didn’t, so…”

Scorpia’s voice drifts off as alarms sounds. Adora rolls her eyes. “Guess her friends lived,” she mutters, drawing her staff. “Scorpia, keep an eye on Catra while I check this out.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Scorpia said in the peppiest voice she could manage, watching Adora walk away. “I will absolutely look after this sleeping, non-moving person.”

She looks down. Catra is gone. “Uh…”

Entrapta points with her hair, never looking away from the screen. “She went that way.”

The base really _is_ creepy without Adora or Entrapta for company. “Just wanted to spend some time with Adora,” she mutters as she walks along. “We could be such good friends, I just _know it_. But she’s…”

She’s single minded and at that moment, the entire single mind is on Catra. It’s frustrating. “And now I’m stuck catsitting.”

Something creaks overhead. Scorpia looks up, bewildered… and then screams as something drops right onto her back.

“Wha-huh?!”

There was a delirious laugh, and then Catra appeared in her peripheral, climbing onto her shoulder. “Ooooooh.” She giggles, then bit Scorpia’s shoulder. It was all exoskeleton, so it didn’t hurt, but damn, now she’s going to have to buff her shell later.

“Hey!” Scorpia makes to grab at her, but Catra latches onto her arm, holding on tight and laughing.

“You’re fun to chew on.” She _definitely_ sounds a little drunk. Or high. Or both.

“Um… okay.” It’s keeping her busy, Scorpia supposes, heading for the door with the cat still holding on tight. “Oh no,” she muttered as she stared at the keypad. “Let’s see, what was it again, um…”

She types in a code. Nothing. Ugh. She types in another code. Nothing. “No, no, you’re doing it wrong!” Catra insists, reaching out as far as she can with one arm while her other arm and both her legs remained latched around Scorpia’s large arm.

“Oh, what do you know?” Scorpia grumbles, trying again. Nothing.

“It’s… It’s… _ugh_.” Catra finally lets go, crashing to the floor and laughing before she drags herself up and starts hitting keys.

“Hey, knock it off!” Scorpia tries to grab her, but she dodges, continuing to jump and type. “Seriously, can you not? I’m having a _very_ hard day right now, and—” She freezes when the door opens. “You… How did you do that?” she asks weakly.

Catra flopped back on the floor, giggling hysterically. “S’Adora’s favorite number.”

“Right.” Scorpia shakes her head, biting back a frustrated sigh. “ _Right_. Adora’s favorite number. You _would_ know Adora’s favorite number, wouldn’t you? Just _come on_ —”

She looks back just in time to see the hallway ripped away from the door, leaving nothing but snow in its wake. “Oooooh!” Catra lights up. “Snow!”

She runs out on all fours before Scorpia can stop her, falling face first into the snow. “Ow! Stupid boots…”

The offensive footwear is discarded, and Catra begins jumping to try and catch snowflakes. It’s almost tempting to just leave her out there… until Scorpia hears the sounds in the distance. She’s not entirely sure what it is, but she’s going to guess nothing good.

“Uuuuuh, new plan!” she yelps, running out to grab Catra. “We’re just gonna stay inside, how does that sound?”

“Aaaaawww.” Catra pouts, watching the doors close. Scorpia sighs.

“You can chew on my arm.”

“Yay!”

* * *

“Well, I never want to own a cat, so thanks for that.”

“Mmphm.” Catra hummed, still chewing on Scorpia’s arm. She’d been at it for at least twenty minutes. Scorpia huffs, annoyed.

“Can't believe I'm stuck in a closet here with _you_. I should be by Adora's side, protecting her. Why can't you just stay out of our way?”

Catra looks up at her with wide eyes, finally detaching herself to speak. “Adora thinks I’m dumb.”

“Huh? Of course she doesn’t.”

“Does tooooooo.” Catra drops back to the ground, sprawling out exaggeratedly. “She thinks _everyone_ is dumb and she knows better than anyone and _she_ has to save everyone and blah blah blah blah blah…”

Catra throws her arms in the air and rolls onto her stomach. “She’s just trying to protect you,” Scorpia says uncertainly. Catra scoffs.

“She just wants to be _right_.”

“That’s not…”

Scorpia’s voice drifts off as the door opens, and she looks around eagerly. “Adora?” Catra turned her head to look, giggling when she saw Sea Hawk.

“It’s the! The the the the Water… Thing.”

“Ah, Catra.” Sea Hawk sighs, smiling fondly before he clears his throat. “I’m here to save you!”

“Rescue me from what?”

Sea Hawk tilts his head. “Is… she okay?”

“I don't know,” Scorpia huffs, standing, “but she _is_ getting on my last nerve, and she is not going anywhere.”

“We'll see about that! En garde!”

Sea Hawk lunges for Catra, grabbing one arm, while Scorpia grabs the other. Catra is still giggling.

“Everybody loves me!”

* * *

“I really hate this place,” Adora mutters as the walls around her groaned, the wind howling like an actual beast.

Then the alarms start going off.

“I am going to _burn_ this place,” she declares as she hurried off to find Entrapta. The scientist is at her computers, her screens showing monsters.

“Entrapta,” Adora says as patiently as she can, “what’s happening?”

“Apparently, by drilling into the ice, we've unleashed these creatures and now they're obsessively trying to destroy us!” Entrapta squeals, spinning around in her chair. “What an unexpected twist!”

“These things should not be so thrilling to you,” Adora mutters, pressing a hand to her forehead. She’s distracted by a _thump_ behind her and turns around.

And there’s Catra’s little entourage — the princess and archer, in a pile on the ground in front of them. The princess opens her eyes to see Adora and Entrapta standing over them.

“Hiiiiiii,” Entrapta says far too happily.

And all hell breaks loose.

The archer draws an arrow, and Adora immediately jumps out of the way, avoiding the arrow as it hits Entrapta, wrapping her in cloth, and Glimmer fires off a blast of magic. Adora hides behind a container, drawing her staff.

“Fascinating…”

* * *

“Hand. Her. Over!” Sea Hawk grunts, tugging Catra hard enough to pull her shoulder out of its socket.

“Let go!” Scorpia insists. “Adora entrusted me with watching her, I can’t let her down!”

Catra giggles. “Adooooooooora. She’s such a dummy sometimes.”

“That’s not true!” Scorpia says, horrified. “You of all people should know that! I mean, you grew up together…” She sighed sadly. “I can't compete with that.”

She lets Catra go, releasing her to Sea Hawk. “I’ve been trying… so hard to get through her walls, to get her to trust me. I mean _really_ trust me. I helped with taking out Shadow Weaver, but that was convenience more than anything.” She sits down, staring at the floor. “But you two, even when you're trying to kill each other, you can tell there's a real bond there.” Her voice is thick now, tears in her throat. “I wish she would see me that way, too.”

Sea Hawk sniffles, setting Catra down. “I… I know how you feel.”

Catra flops back on the floor, looking between them. “You guys suuuuuuuuuuuuck at this.”

* * *

Adora ducks around a blast, swinging her staff. Glimmer teleports away, scowling. “Where’s the disc, Adora?”

“I do _not_ have time for this, princess,” Adora snaps back.

“You don’t have time to help fix the person you’re supposed to _care_ about?”

“At the moment, yeah!”

“The bugs are First One tech!” They hear Entrapta shrieking from across the room. Of course they are. Glimmer appears in front of Adora, who barely has time to swing her staff and catch the next ball of magic — her staff snaps, and they’re thrown in opposite directions by the resulting explosion.

* * *

Catra was on her back, trying to catch her tail as she laughed. “I mean, just once I'd like to hang out with Mermista and her friends. I'm good at groups! I have excellent stories of derring-do!” Seak Hawk laments.” Why don't they want me around?”

“Tell me about it.” Scorpia sighs. “Adora’s great, she really is, but she’s always _so_ busy. And yet she always expects _me_ to make time for _her_!”

“Exactly!” Sea Hawk agrees. “It seems like… the only time anyone wants to hang is when they need me to give them a ride, or do something for them.”

“Ugh, tell me about—” Scorpia pauses when she realizes Catra has latched onto her arm again, chewing happily. “Hey!”

Sea Hawk watches for a moment before chuckling, which slowly evolves into a laugh. Scorpia joins in as well, giving up on Catra.

“Is there… something wrong with us?”

“Of course there is,” Catra said blearily, crawling to lie on Scorpia’s shoulder and yelping. “You’re pointy! And there’s something wrong with _aaaaaaaaaaaaall_ of us. Adora’s not that perfect — she’s a total neurotic control freak.” She collapses dramatically on Scorpia’s arm. “But there’s still _good_ things about people, too. That’s a whole big _thing_ with the Rebellion, ya know. Everyone is good! Everyone is worth saving!” She throws her arms about dramatically as she speaks. “But you seem good. You both seem really, really great.”

Sea Hawk tilts his head, thoughtful. “You know what? She's right. We are really great. I'm clever, roguishly good-looking, and a top-notch sailor.” He jumps onto a crate with a flourish. “I don't care if anyone else thinks I'm cool. I don't need their opinions to validate me. I'm Sea Hawk!”

Scorpia stood, hugging Catra and beaming. “And me? I am brave, strong, give _great_ hugs, and I’m loyal!” She sets Catra down to look her in the eye. “You left Adora, but someday’s she’s going to realize I won’t. I’ll _always_ be there for her, because _that’s_ who I am!” Catra giggles and claps. “And I’m also someone who’s about to go kick some bug butt!”

Sea Hawk jumped down, beaming. “Let’s _show_ them what we’re made of!”

* * *

Glimmer glares up at Adora, who’s found advantage from the top of a crate. “We _have_ to destroy the disc, or none of us are getting out of here!”

“Oh, we _have_ to?” Adora asks, raising an eyebrow. “I’m not one of your loyal little subjects, _Princess_. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

Bow catches up with Glimmer, and they both glare, readying their attacks, but they’re cut off by the monsters roaring and crashing through the walls. Adora yells as she’s sent flying through the air, hitting the wall with a _smack_. Glimmer and Bow back up as well, screaming. This isn’t really how they want to die.

And then a beam of green hits the monster. They turn and see Scorpia with a gun, carrying Catra, and Sea Hawk, running at the monster.

“For the Horde!”

“I don't agree with that sentiment, but I'm also here!”

“Weeeeeeeeeeee!”

Catra was right, Glimmer thinks distantly as Scorpia leaves Catra, running off into the fight. They should have stayed home.

“Hey, I know you!” Catra says happily when Glimmer runs over and hugs her.

“Catra, I am _so_ glad you’re — are you okay?”

“Aw, yeah Sparkles, I’m greeaaaaaaaaat.” She spins, giggling. Glimmer stares at her for a moment, and shakes her head. Not worth questioning.

“Adora, are you all right?” Scorpia asks as she leans over, trying to shield her from the rubble. Adora straightens up, scowling.

“Just find the sword. I’ve got Catra.”

She doesn’t make it far before Glimmer tackles her, and they both roll along the floor, wrestling. Adora struggles to get the disc out of her pocket before Glimmer can take it, holding it away.

“Get _off_ , Princess!”

“Stop… being… stupid!”

Glimmer shoves Adora’s arm, and the disc drops her fingers clattering just out of her reach. Adora gets her leg under Glimmer and kicks her away, diving for the disc, grabbing it and rolling away just as an arrow explodes right where she and the disc had been a moment before. Glimmer is right on her, knocking her back to the ground.

“Go Adora!” Catra is cheering. “Wait, no. Go Sparkles! Wait. Go _everyone_!”

Her attention is pulled away by something shining in her peripheral, and her pupils dilate. “Ooooooh, shiny,” she says, enraptured, stumbling toward the sword.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Scorpia tackles her, sending her crashing to the ground.

Glimmer is struggling to hold Adora down as they grapple. “Just. Give. Us. The. Disc!”

“And give up controlling Catra?” There’s a slight laugh in Adora’s tone. “You’ve gotta be kidding.”

Glimmer is cut off by the monster that crashes through the wall, bearing down on Adora and Glimmer. They jump away, Adora taking off into the crates to dodge the monster as it tries to attack her. Scorpia, Bow, and Sea Hawk are wrestling for the sword, but are distracted when they hear the crashing and see Adora barely outpacing the monster.

“Adora!” Scorpia rips herself out of the pile, running for the blonde.

“She has to destroy the disc!” Bow calls after her. “It’s the only way to stop them!”

Glimmer has gotten back to Catra, getting under her arm and holding her upright as she giggles. “Guess we know what happens when the sword is directly infected now,” she mutters. Catra pats her cheek.

“You’re sparkly.”

They hear the disc clatter and look around; Scorpia’s picked it up, while the monster corners Adora.

“Scorpia, you can end this,” Glimmer insists. “You’ve got to break the disc, now!”

“Don’t even think about it!” Adora snaps.

Scorpia looks between them, clearly torn, until her eyes land on Sea Hawk. “It seems to me that caring about someone is the greatest adventure of them all.”

Scorpia smiles and nods. “Sorry, Adora. This is for your own good.”

“Wait—!”

The disc snaps easily in Scorpia’s claws. A wave of energy sweeps through the room, washing over the monsters, which immediately cease their attack and crash out of the base. Glimmer nearly loses her grip on Catra as she slumps against her for a moment, groaning.

“What the _hell_ …”

She grimaces and looks up, eyes focusing — and the first thing she sees is Adora, glaring at her. She scowls back, starting to pick herself up—

And then Scorpia, with Entrapta tucked under one arm, is grabbing Adora. The three disappear down a hall, out of sight.

“You okay?” Glimmer asks, helping Catra straighten up. She’s poking her front fang with her tongue, frowning.

“Was I… chewing on something?”

“Uh, you kinda got kidnapped, so who knows.”

“Great to hear you guys are on top of things while I’m down.” Catra rubs the back of her head, looking around. The place seems less scary now. “ _Fuck_ , why are my feet so cold?”

“Probably because you took off your boots,” Bow points out helpfully. Catra looks down at her bare feet, and shakes her head.

“That’s it. I’m done. Fuck snow. Let’s go home.”


	18. Between A Rock And A Hard Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I want to know why you treated us the way you did. You put Catra’s _life_ on my shoulders. _My_ behavior decided if she got through a day without a punishment. Why would you do that to us? We were _kids_.”
> 
> “The world isn’t a forgiving place, Adora. I did what I had to do to make you stronger.”
> 
> “You _tortured_ us. We depended on you for _everything_ , and you took advantage of that!”
> 
> “And look at where you both are now.” Adora narrows her eyes slightly. “You’re Hordak’s right-hand man. Catra is possibly the most powerful being in this universe.”
> 
> “You don’t get to take credit for that. For _any_ of that,” Adora snaps. “We got stronger _despite_ you, not _because_ of you.”
> 
> “If you hate me so much, then why not just send me away?” Shadow Weaver challenges. “Send me to Beast Island to face my fate. It’s what a _good_ soldier would do.”
> 
> The words shake Adora for a moment before her expression hardens. “That’s what _you_ would do. And I’m not you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end is creeping closer...

_“Sssshhhh!”_

_“I’m not talking!”_

_“You’re giggling too loud!”_

_Curfew has long come and gone. The two small cadets really should be asleep, not kneeling on Adora’s bunk, drawing on the edge of it with crayons they had stolen and hidden._

_“We need to leave our mark so_ everyone _knows who we are,” Catra had said when she had revealed the contraband to Adora._

_Their mark is, apparently, two ridiculous renditions of their faces, drawn by the unsteady hands of two eight year olds who only have a dim light from the hall to work by._

_“There,” Catra says proudly, pulling back. “Someday, we’re gonna rule this place, and everyone’s gonna know the great_ Lord Hordak _was taken out by two cadets.”_

_“What do ya think it’ll be like?” Adora asks as she bounces back to sit next to Catra, legs tucked under herself. “When we’re in charge?”_

_“Way better. We’ll control_ everything _. No more stupid brown ration bars. No more bullying. No more Shadow Weaver bossing us around.” Catra’s eyes are bright in the darkness._

_“But we’ll still have each other, right?”_

_“Duh. We gotta look out for each other, right?”_

_Adora grins. “Right_.”

Slim fingers brush across the old drawings. Adora stares at them for a long moment, touch lingering on Catra’s ridiculous face, before she sighs and drops her hand. New cadets have already been put in hers and Catra’s bunks. She wonders what the one in her bed thinks of the drawing.

She ducks and stands, stepping away from the bunk, and leaves the room. Those long, whisper-filled nights with Catra feel like another lifetime.

At least one of them is in charge now.

“Adora!”

She jumps as Scorpia catches up with her, grinning. “Um, hey, Scorpia. What’s up?”

“I was just wondering if you were busy, ya know, right now, or if we could hang out, or something?”

Adora raises an eyebrow. This again? “Does Entrapta have something?”

“Entrapt — oh, no, she’s with Hordak, you know how she spends all of her time with him now, those two and their science.” Scorpia chuckles.

“Right… Then, what do we need to do?”

“We — oh, we don’t _need_ to do anything, I was just thinking, we should spend more time together, ya know?” The woman chuckles again.

“I… don’t really have time for that right now.” Adora backs up, turning to head for the force captains’ quarters. “I have a lot of paperwork to do, and…”

Scorpia, blessedly, doesn’t stop Adora as she walks away. She’s been acting so _weird_ since the mission up North. Adora doesn’t get it.

She stops in front of her door, staring at the knob as if _it_ can give her the answers she’s looking for, then shakes her head, turning again and going in another direction.

Shadow Weaver is the picture of pathetic, staring at the wall, when the energy field in front of her cell powers down. She looks over to see Adora stepping in, and smiles sweetly. “Ah, Adora—”

“Don’t,” Adora says firmly, kneeling so she’s eye to eye with Shadow Weaver. “I’m not here to deal with you and your lies.”

“Then why _are_ you here? Has Lord Hordak passed his judgment?”

Adora twitches slightly. “No. I want answers before he does, though. Real. Answers.”

“I answered all your questions last time.”

“Barely.” Adora scoffs. “And somehow, you left me with more questions.”

“Where would you like to start, then?”

“What is the mask?”

Shadow Weaver is silent for a long moment. Adora has never been a patient person; the length of her responding silence is impressive. “A dream,” the sorceress finally says. “A wish. A rumor.”

“Use words that make sense,” Adora snaps. “I’m not in the mood for the vague crap.”

“I should have spent more time working on your patience and appreciation for a good story,” Shadow Weaver laments.

“You should _tell_ me a good story for once.”

“Hmph. You didn’t enjoy the undead princess?” Adora doesn’t answer. Shadow Weaver sighs. “It was rumored to be a powerful ancient artifact, created by the magicats. It offered nothing when I found it, however. I thought I had destroyed it.”

“Then how did Catra find it? What’s the sword? What’s _She-Ra_? Why is Catra fighting me?!”

Each question piles on with more and more desperation and impatience until she’s almost yelling. Shadow Weaver smiles faintly beneath her mask. “You miss her.”

“I just want to know what’s going on!”

Shadow Weaver hums. “I must admit, I’m surprised she went the way she did. Her ambitions _were_ always higher than her capabilities, however. Perhaps she saw a chance to be powerful and took it.”

“She was fully capable,” Adora argues heatedly. “ _You_ just never gave her a chance.”

“And you did?” Shadow Weaver raises an eyebrow. Adora recoils slightly. “Honestly, Adora, you keep looking for someone to blame for Catra’s betrayal — the princesses, me — but have you ever considered that perhaps _you’re_ the problem?”

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. Look at yourself, even now you can’t admit that she’s simply turned against you — you’re looking for a _reason_ , something to _fix_ , something that must be _wrong_ , instead of accepting that Catra made a choice you don’t like.”

Adora’s jaw twitches as her mind processes the words. “Catra wouldn’t leave me. She promised. _We_ promised.”

“I told you letting yourself care about her was a weakness, didn’t I?” Shadow Weavers asks innocently. “You could have been so many things, but instead you let Catra drag you down with her. And even now that she’s gone, you can’t get over it.”

Adora doesn’t have an answer to that.

* * *

Catra jumps, swinging the sword and cutting through the oncoming bot. Another one shoots a laser at her; she transforms the sword into a shield to deflect the shot, which hits the bot and blows it up.

Something tickles at her ankles. She looks down, confused, then stunned, then terrified, as shadows raise around her ankles. She screams, stumbling back.

“Your fears will do you no good in battle.”

The shadows disappear, and the atrium fades back into view. Catra turns to glare at Light Hope. “Using Shadow Weaver to fuck with my head is low.”

“You must learn to overcome the things that scare you. It is the only way to be an effective warrior.”

Catra groans, rolling her eyes. “Whatever.” _Let go, let go, let go_. That was all anyone ever said. Good soldiers didn’t form bonds. Good She-Ras didn’t have fears.

She’s already given up her entire life. What more does anyone want from her?

“Again,” Light Hope said. Catra sighed, dragging herself up again.

“Can I have a break that’s longer than two minutes? I have questions.”

“Questions are a distraction—”

“ _Breathing_ is a distraction according to you!” Catra snapped. “You’re the only one who knows anything about the magicats, and I want to know more!”

There was a long pause. “The magicats are irrelevant.”

“Not to me.” The words are said through gritted teeth. Another long silence. Being in a standoff with an AI is weird.

“It is as I said before. The magicats betrayed the First Ones.”

“But _why_? They were working together, weren’t they? Why suddenly turn on them?”

“I can not speak to their motivations. I only know the results of their actions.”

Catra’s shoulders slump. “Mara,” she mumbles. Light Hope doesn’t answer. “You said she couldn’t handle the power of the sword without the mask, but you won’t let me train with it. How am I supposed to do any better than her when you’re just setting me up to fail again?”

“You still possess the power of the mask despite not having it physically with you,” Light Hope says simply. “You’ve had many years to bond with the mask. The physical artifact is irrelevant.”

“A lot of things are irrelevant to you.” The AI doesn’t respond to the sarcasm. “So where are the magicats now? Maybe I can get answers from them.”

“Tracking their location is not currently a priority.” Catra resists the urge to swear loudly. “It is time to return to training—”

“No.” Catra changes back, shaking off the weird feeling of shrinking. She’s getting used to it. “I’m done for today. I need to get back to Bright Moon.”

“You’re wasting time—”

“Yeah, well, that’s what I’m good at.”

She’s always surprised when Light Hope lets her abruptly end their training sessions before she deems it’s been “long enough” (Catra is pretty sure it’s been at least two days. Time is weird in the castle). She retrieves her mask and changes the sword back into its little keychain, hooking it on her belt before leaving. She takes a moment to stand outside, breathing in the fresh air.

And then she walks.

If asked, she would say she’s not looking for anything in particular. But somehow, she’s pleased when she hears the reedy call of, “Mara dearie!” Even if the smile is somewhat tinged with exasperation.

“Come on old lady, we’ve talked about this,” she says as she turns to face Razz. “I’m _Catra_.”

“Yes, yes, of course you’re Catra.” Razz waves her off. Catra sighs, irritated.

“Hey, Razz? You’ve lived in these woods forever, right?”

“Of course, dearie, they’re my home!” She’s humming and sweeping the ground now. Catra watches for a moment, then shakes her head.

“Do… Do you know anything about magicats?”

The broom stops. “History is written by the victors,” she says after a moment, in a solemn voice that’s almost out of character. Catra’s heart skips slightly.

“What do you mean? The First Ones?”

Razz doesn’t answer for a moment. “I met the queen once, you know. Queen C’yra. She was a lovely woman. Only ever wanted what was best for Etheria. It was an awful fate for them.”

“ _Razz_.” Catra grabs her by the shoulders, doing her best to keep her temper down. But she knows she’s about to snap. “I need you to focus. What are you talking about? Whose queen? Who had an awful fate? What happened to them?”

“The magicats.” Her voice is so sad. Catra stops breathing for a moment. “The shadows got them.”

 _The shadows got them_.

Catra takes a few steps back. “W-What do you mean?”

Razz shakes her head, as if coming out of a fog, and smiles warmly. “Ah, Mara! Are you here to—”

And Catra snaps. “No! I’m not here to pick fucking berries, and I’m not Mara! I just want answers! I’m sick and tired of this cryptic bullshit! No one minds using me to be a soldier or be the savior of the fucking planet, but giving me answers? That’s too much! They’re not _relevant_. They don’t _matter_. Nothing I want _matters_!”

Razz stares at her, head tilted. Catra slowly backs up, opening and closing her mouth. “I… Sorry. I should go.”

Now she’s yelling at old women who live in the woods and can’t tell her apart from a woman who died a thousand years ago. She needs a vacation.

 _Ha. As if_.

* * *

“Banished?” Adora repeats dumbly. Hordak raises an eyebrow, looking down on the Force Captain.

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

“B-But I…” Adora’s eyes dodge around for a moment before resettling. “Shadow Weaver’s my prisoner. She could still be useful to us. She knows more about Etheria than anyone else!”

“And also about the Fright Zone,” Hordak reminds her coldly. “Have you considered the consequences if that information were to fall into the wrong hands?”

“I…”

The lights above them go about. It’s like an ominous warning. Adora looks around the room, frowning, until the lights flicker back on, and she sees Entrapta lowering herself from the ceiling. “What are you doing?” she asks tiredly. It’s been awhile since she saw the princess, but she’s almost instantly exhausted just by the sight of her.

“I’ve been integrating the First Ones’ tech we got from the Northern Reach into Hordak’s portal mainframe,” Entrapta says happily, bouncing off her hair seat. “But maybe slightly, completely overloaded the Fright Zone energy grid.”

She strolls over to Hordak. Adora watches her warily. “We’re gonna have to redesign that.”

“What Entrapta is doing does not concern you, Force Captain,” Hordak said. Adora’s eyebrow twitched. _Entrapta_ had been her prisoner as well. And then part of _her_ team. Where does he get off telling her it isn’t her business?

Entrapta looked between them for a long moment, realization dawning. “Oooooh, were you having a meeting? Sorry, again. I guess I should be going.”

Her hair reaches up to grab hold of something and pull herself out of sight. “No, you stay,” Hordak says, stepping closer to Adora. “You have two days to extract whatever information you can from your prisoner. Then you will banish her to Beast Island. Do I make myself clear?”

Adora’s jaw clenches, fists clenched. “Yes, Lord Hordak,” she says flatly, turning and walking out. Her mind is racing. Banish Shadow Weaver. Why does that feel so hard? There’s no love lost. Shadow Weaver hurt her, hurt Catra, tortured them both for their entire lives. Beast Island is the best-case scenario.

So why can’t she see herself doing it?

* * *

Catra barely hits the bridge before a hand is grabbing her. “ _Fuck_ , Glimmer,” Catra groans as she stumbles, and Bow catches her.

“It _has_ to get better eventually—”

“Or maybe you could just let me _walk_?” Catra snaps, whirling to glare at her. Glimmer looks hurt for a moment before her expression hardens.

“What, you can jump from the third floor and land on your feet, but a little _motion sickness_ is too much for you?”

“Guys,” Bow says quickly, stepping between them. Catra holds the standoff for another moment before her shoulders sag, and she looks away.

“Sorry.” She scrubs her forehead and walks over to the window nook, collapsing. “I’m just… tired.”

“You sound really stressed,” Bow says gently, stepping toward her. “Light Hope getting to you?”

“Yeah. No. Sort of.” Catra curls up, hiding her face in her knees. “I’m thinking too much.”

Bow and Glimmer sit with her. “Magicats again?” Glimmer guesses. Catra nods. “There has to be _someone_ who knows something about them. I mean, you didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Do you remember anything before the Fright Zone?”

“No,” Catra mutters, but that’s not _entirely_ true. “Maybe? I kind of get flashes sometimes, hear voices, and I know it’s not the Fright Zone but I don’t really… know anything else.”

Gentle, calloused hands scratch Catra’s ears. “You need a break,” Bow says. “You’re working too hard.”

“We should go to Mystacor,” Glimmer pipes up. “You didn’t get to see any of the good stuff last time!”

“I don’t have time for a break,” Catra mutters. “I have to learn how to be a good _She-Ra_ and save the world.”

“You’re not going to save anyone if you work yourself into a breakdown,” Bow says. “At least take a few days before you go back to Light Hope. I think she’s making things worse.”

Catra snorts. That’s putting it lightly, she thinks. “All right, I’ll stay here for a bit. It’s not like I’m enjoying the stupid training anyway.”

Bow and Glimmer cheer, tackling Catra. “Best friend time! We can have a sleepover! And _cake_!”

Dorks, Catra thinks fondly, shaking her head. They’re lucky she loves them. Not that she’ll ever admit that.

* * *

Adora stares out at the Fright Zone, tired and confused. What is she supposed to do about this? What is she going to do—

“Adora!”

Her tranquility is shattered by heavy footsteps and the metal walkway creaks. “Hi Scorpia,” she says as patiently as she can. “What’s up?”

“I was looking for you!” Scorpia says cheerfully, carefully approaching the blonde. “I know when my bestie’s upset.”

“I’m not—” Adora lets it hang for a moment then sighs, shaking her head. “I’m fine.”

“Oh, I don’t accept any of that.”

“Well, that’s what you’re getting.” Adora pushes herself off the railing, walking further down. “Hordak is making me send Shadow Weaver to Beast Island.”

“Wait. Beast Island is real?!” Scorpia’s voice cracks — as does the railing when she pulls it up with her pincers. “Oops. That’s not good. Oh, shoot. Okay, let me just fix that.” It breaks further as she stretches it. “Uh… Adora, can I get a hand?”

Adora’s already disappeared around a corner, sitting on a crate and curling her legs up to her chest. “I thought Beast Island was just a story they told us to keep us in line,” Scorpia says uncertainly as she follows, sitting beside Adora. “Being sent there is supposed to be a fate worse than death.” She really knows how to give a pep talk, Adora thinks, aggravated. It must show on her face. “I bet there’s some nice stuff, too,” Scorpia adds quickly. “Maybe Shadow Weaver will write and tell us.”

“Seriously?!” Adora can’t quite contain the outburst. “People don’t send letters from Beast Island!” She jumps up, pushing passed Scorpia. “They go and they never come back.” She stops, the kicks the railing. “This isn’t _fair_. She’s _my_ prisoner, and Hordak doesn’t even trust me with her! What am I supposed to do to convince him that she can help us?”

“She hasn’t… exactly given us any information,” Scorpia points out. “Why do you really wanna keep her around? You’re the one who said she was lying to you and that she wanted to hurt Catra. Wouldn’t getting rid of her be easier?”

Adora’s jaw clenches, her eyes narrowing. “You… You don’t understand.”

The unsaid words — _Catra would_ — hang heavily in the air between them. Adora turns and walks away, leaving Scorpia behind on the walkway.

* * *

“So much for taking a break.”

“At least she didn’t go She-Ra on them.”

Bow and Glimmer watch as Catra weaves and dodge around the guard she sparring with, leaving small scratches here and there on the armor to indicate every hit she could have landed. “Catra, I would appreciate it if you didn’t scuff up my troops too much,” General Juliet calls from the sidelines. They all hear her groan of frustration.

“It’s _training_. If I can’t beat up people, can you at least get a good simulation room or something?”

“Is she… okay?” Bow asks slowly. Glimmer doesn’t answer. It’s a stupid question — they both know she isn’t. She hasn’t been since she met Light Hope.

“I know Light Hope is just an AI, but doesn’t it feel like she’s kind of… I don’t know, messing with Catra’s head?” Glimmer looks up at Bow. “I don’t like it.”

“I think Catra’s just too caught up in things,” Bow says, trying to be reasonable. “We gotta make tonight’s sleepover the best one ever. Make sure she _really_ relaxes.”

“We can do that,” Glimmer agrees, nodding. They’re Catra’s best friends. Who can help her better than them?

* * *

“You’re going to Beast Island.”

Shadow Weaver looks up at Adora, who’s letting herself into the cell. “Is that so?”

“Unless you can give me a good reason to keep you around.” Adora folds her arms, glaring down at the sorceress.

“I’ve already given everything to the Horde.”

“Then give something to _me_.” Adora steps closer. “For once in your damn life, give me a straight answer.”

“I’ve already told you what I know about the mask and the shield—”

“Not. That,” Adora cuts her off through gritted teeth. “I want to know why you treated us the way you did. You put Catra’s _life_ on my shoulders. _My_ behavior decided if she got through a day without a punishment. Why would you do that to us? We were _kids_.”

“The world isn’t a forgiving place, Adora. I did what I had to do to make you stronger.”

“You _tortured_ us. We depended on you for _everything_ , and you took advantage of that!”

“And look at where you both are now.” Adora narrows her eyes slightly. “You’re Hordak’s right-hand man. Catra is possibly the most powerful being in this universe.”

“You don’t get to take credit for that. For _any_ of that,” Adora snaps. “We got stronger _despite_ you, not _because_ of you.”

“If you hate me so much, then why not just send me away?” Shadow Weaver challenges. “Send me to Beast Island to face my fate. It’s what a _good_ soldier would do.”

The words shake Adora for a moment before her expression hardens. “That’s what _you_ would do. And I’m not you.”

She turns on her heel to walk out. “Adora,” Shadow Weaver calls. “Take pity on an old, powerless woman. I know my days here are numbered. I want to see my old Sorcerer’s Guild badge one last time. It must be among my things. Bring it to me. It’s the last thing I’ll ever ask of you.”

Adora’s fists clench. “You don’t get to ask things of me anymore,” she says shortly, walking out.

* * *

“I believe my daughter and Bow are looking for you.”

Catra looks up from her book to see Angella standing over her, giving her a small but concerned smile. She’s tucked away in a dusty corner of the library, surrounded by books.

“How do you have _all_ this information and _all_ this history, but _nothing_ about magicats?”

Angella sighs inwardly. “I’ve told you we don’t know much about them—”

“How is that _possible_?!” Catra throws the book away from herself, burying her face in her hands. “How can an entire society just _disappear_ like that?!”

Angella draws a chair up, sitting in front of Catra. “They say history is written by the victors,” she says slowly. “By retreating, the magicats left themselves open to be interpreted in whatever way the ones writing history saw fit.”

“The First Ones,” Catra mutters into her hands.

“Yes. They wrote the magicats out of history. But they couldn’t erase the evidence completely.”

“I _know_ Light Hope knows more than she’s saying. But she won’t tell me.”

Angella gently reaches forward, brushing her fingers through Catra’s wild hair. “Why is this so important to you?”

“Because it’s… it’s part of me,” Catra stutters. “I’m one of them. The choices they made are _my_ history, and now _I’m_ the one fixing their mistakes. I deserve to know why, don’t I?”

“You do,” Angella admits. “And I’m sorry I can’t give you that. But living in the past won’t fix the present or future. And neither will obsessing over it.”

Catra finally looks up. She’s exhausted, Angella notes. She wonders when the girl last slept. “You should find Glimmer and Bow. They’ll find you eventually. You might as well be a willing participant and not a hostage.”

“Yeah,” Catra mutters, pushing herself up. Angella stands with her, rests her hands on Catra’s shoulders, and gently kisses her forehead.

“You’re not alone, Catra. Please try to remember that.”

Catra nods, eyes on the floor. “I will.” Her voice is small. “Thank you.”

* * *

Adora steps into the cell, eyes on the food tray, refusing to look at Shadow Weaver. She drops the tray unceremoniously. “You have one more day,” she informs the sorceress flatly. “I can’t protect you if you won’t give me anything, though.”

Shadow Weaver smiles behind her mask. “You learned more from me than you’ll let yourself believe.”

That finally gets her a hard look. “I have one more question. I know I grew up here. But Catra didn’t.” The memories are faint at best, but Adora remembers a vague period of time before Catra existed in her life. “Where did she come from?”

“That’s an odd last question, don’t you think?”

“I think you should just answer the question.”

Shadow Weaver chuckles dryly, her eyes flicking down to the tray. She sees her badge in the food. “She came from the same place all magicats come from — Half Moon.”

“What, did you find her on the side of the road like a lost kitten?”

“Something like that.”

Adora narrows her eyes, crossing her arms. “Give me a reason to keep you. Give me _something_ to give Hordak.”

There was her reliable prodigy, she thought, smiling. “I’ll try.”

* * *

“Look, she’s sleeping.”

“ _Finally_.”

Bow and Glimmer exchange smiles. They’re sprawled out on Catra’s bed, Catra out cold, purring in her sleep. It’s so _cute_. Glimmer takes a bite of cake while Bow fiddles with his tracker pad.

“What are you working on?” Glimmer asks curiously.

“I think I figured out what’s wrong with my tracker pad, but…” His voice drifts off as he looks out Catra’s window, eyes wide. “Wait. Oh. Oh!” Bow launches at Catra, shaking her awake. She jolts up, hair a mess.

“Whathfuck?”

“Bow!” Glimmer protests. “We _just_ got her to sleep!”

“I know, but I need you guys! Meet me on the roof in ten minutes!”

He runs out without another word. Catra looks blearily at Glimmer, who sighs. So much for the world’s best sleepover.

* * *

“A little more to the left! Little moooooore…”

Catra grumbles, stretching out the best she can. “I was _sleeping_ ,” she says in a strained voice, claws digging into the metal to steady herself as Bow has her and Glimmer adjust antennae. “It felt _nice_. I was _enjoying_ my _bed_.”

“Up a little! Just a little more!”

Her foot slips; she shrieks, trying to dig her claws in deeper to keep from falling, but it’s too late. She vaguely hears Bow yelling in excitement, and then arms grab her, and she’s back on solid ground, clinging to Glimmer.

“I swear, Bow, I will _break_ that thing—”

“Did you get something?” Glimmer asks quickly, setting Catra down.

“I got a message. Or part of one anyway. It’s degraded.”

Catra and Glimmer lean over on either side of Bow, checking the screen. “Can you read it?” Glimmer asks Catra. She squints.

“Yeah, it’s… Serenia. Portal.” She pauses for a long moment on the last word.

“Mara.”

* * *

Adora can’t sleep. There are too many thoughts chasing themselves around, and as much as she hates it, there’s only one person who can help her with them.

“I still have more questions,” she says as she steps into the cell. Shadow Weaver is standing with her back to her, still. Too still. “Shadow Weaver…?”

She steps forward, reaching out… and her hand goes through the illusion. She steps back, shocked and horrified, and looks down to see a glowing glyph on the floor.

“ _Fuck_.”


	19. Who Tells Your Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I know what will lighten the mood. Baby pictures! I’ve got some great ones of Bow’s first bubble bath.”
> 
> Bow bolts up. “You were going to give us a tour of the library!”
> 
> “No, no, I want to see those baby pictures,” Catra says with a wicked grin. Bow whirls to glare at her.
> 
> “I thought _you_ wanted to see an outsider’s perspective of the _magicats_?”
> 
> “Can’t we do both?”
> 
> “I’m sure we can find the baby pictures later,” George says, finally looking back at the group and smiling. “There’s plenty of time.”
> 
> Catra is definitely getting far too much joy out of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this story has been _such_ a trip - and continues to be one and I love it so much. If you read to the end you might see a treat... ;)

“Catra!”

Glimmer knows to dodge, which Catra resents as she swings her claws automatically, because the princess has just woken her up from the best sleep she’s gotten since the Horde attacked Bright Moon.

“What the _fuck_ , Glimmer?”

“Bow’s in trouble!”

Catra’s half awake brain is only half processing. “Uh… what?”

“Just get dressed!”

It’s the crack of dawn, and Catra absolutely hates Glimmer as she stumbles out of bed and gets dressed. “I know you’re in a hurry, but can we not—”

Too late. Catra’s already stumbling at the edge of the treeline, grabbing Glimmer’s arm to keep herself up. She might poke out her claws just a little. Just a bit.

“We don’t have time for your motion sickness, come on!”

Glimmer grabs her wrist, dragging her into the woods. “Will you _please_ explain what’s going on?” Glimmer tosses an arrow over her shoulder. Catra catches it, looking at the note attached. “ _I’m fine, don’t follow me._ ”

“Can you believe that?!”

“Uh… yes? Is Bow even _capable_ of lying?”

“His arrows and tracker pad are gone. He must have shot that into my room and left. Something’s _wrong_.”

Catra looks at the note again. “Not according to this note.”

“Catra!”

“What? I’m just saying, why would kidnappers give him time to write a note?”

“To throw us off their trail!”

She had certainly rationalized all of this in her head. “Aaaaand who would kidnap him?”

“The Horde, of course! I bet it was Adora. I swear if he’s hurt, I’m going to _kill_ her.”

Kidnapping Bow is absolutely not Adora’s thing, but Catra keeps her mouth shut. Glimmer isn’t listening anyway. “Fine,” she says eventually. “Where does Bow go when he’s not in Bright Moon?”

Glimmer hesitates. “Uh…”

“Seriously? How long have you guys been friends?”

“Look, Bow really values his privacy. And we don’t all share a bunk with our best friends.” Low blow, Catra thinks. “He’s never talked about his past, or where he came from. Never. And you know how talkative and open Bow is.”

Actually, it _is_ a little weird, she has a point there. “I mean… okay, so maybe he has a tragic backstory.”

“Something’s _wrong_. What if he’s in trouble? We have to find him!”

Glimmer drags her along faster, and Catra is really just glad they don’t teleport. They walk for awhile, Catra’s eyes on the ground. “Hey, Glimmer—”

“Not now, Catra.”

“But—”

“We need to focus on finding Bow—”

“There are _footprints_ , idiot!”

Glimmer stops, looking down. There were large bootprints with a heart shape near the toes. “Oh. Yeah, those are probably his footprints.”

They only walk a few more feet before they find his full quiver and bow. “Okay, that’s not looking great—”

“There’s no way Bow would ever leave his trick arrows behind!” Glimmer insists, scooping them up like they’re a newborn baby. “I told you he’s in trouble!”

Catra looked ahead, and pointed. “Probably has something to do with that place.”

It was a large, pink building with vines climbing up the walls and columns. Glimmer looks pleadingly at Catra, who sighs.

“This better be an epic rescue mission.”

She rests a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder, and they teleport inside. “We have to find Bow, and get him out of this, uh…” Catra looks up as Glimmer’s voice drifts off. There are rows and rows of books, interspersed with different artifacts.

“Library,” Catra said. “This is a library. There are worse places to be held hostage, I guess.”

A nearby door creaks open. They both whirl, Catra summoning the sword, and see…

Bow. Stepping into the room. Carrying a pile of books. He sighs, then screams when he sees the girls.

“Bow!” Glimmer breathes a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad we found you!”

“We’re… here to break you out, I think,” Catra says slowly, looking around. “Or fight your kidnappers. Or borrow a few books.”

Bow is waving his hands and shushing them, clearly panicking. Catra is lowering her sword; Glimmer gasps, dropping the bow and arrows. “What have they done to you?!”

He’s wearing a shirt. A full shirt. No crop top. It’s certainly an odd look on him. “You guys shouldn’t be here!” he hisses. “You need to leave now, before—”

The door creaks again, and Bow panics. He bounces forward, ripping the sword from Catra’s hands and the mask off her head, and grabbing his bow and arrows; those are thrown under a nearby chair, while the sword and mask go in a vase. “Excuse me—”

Lights flick on. “Who’s there?” An unfamiliar voice says. “Who are these people?”

“Play along,” Bow hisses before raising his voice. “This is Catra and Glimmer, my friends from the academy!” The _what now_? “Catra, Glimmer, meet…” He sighs, blushes, and holds a hand out toward the two men who had found them. “My dads.”

His _what now_? Catra blinks at the two men, who suddenly look very excited. “Oh, we’re so happy to finally meet Bow’s school friends!” The long-haired, bespectacled man says, and suddenly they’re being sandwiched in a hug. Catra yelps, wiggling.

“Lemme go!”

Glasses looks at Catra, and gasps. “ _You’re a magicat_!”

The hugs ends, blessedly, but now Catra is being thoroughly examined, fingers reaching out to touch her ears. “Uh, _no_.” Catra grabs his wrist, glaring. “Ears are off limits.”

“I have so many questions!”

Catra looks over at Bow, whose shoulders are hunched, a shamed look on his face. “Um, we need a minute,” he says quickly, shoving the girls out the door and into the hall.

“I _will_ scratch him if he touches my ears again.”

“Bow, what’s going on?” Glimmer demands. Bow groans, dragging his hands down his face.

“My dads don’t know I’m a rebellion fighter. They think I’m at a boarding school. I’m supposed to be on break.”

A beat of silence passes before Catra laughs. “Damn, Bow _can_ lie.”

“So _this_ is why you never talk about your past?!” Glimmer almost sounds distraught. Bow leans against the doors, arms crossed. “I thought it was because it was dark and painful, but your dads seem so nice and normal!”

“Definitely no Shadow Weaver.”

Bow sighs. “Look, I love my dads, okay?” He turns to look out the door. Lance is setting out snacks already. “I never mentioned them because they decided when I was a kid that I was gonna stay home, take over the library when they retire. But I wanted to travel, to fight. So, I did the only thing I could.” He closes the door, looking back at Catra and Glimmer. “I taught myself archery, ran away, and pretended I was at a made-up boarding school.”

Catra crosses her arms, raising an eyebrow. “Wow, how terrible it must be to have loving parents who don’t expect you to die for them.”

“It’s not like that!” Bow protests. “I just… I don’t want what they want. And they don’t listen. If Lance knew I didn’t want to be a historian…” his head drops, arms falling to his side. “And George, George doesn’t… like the princesses.”

“Excuse me?”

“He fought in the war during the first Princess Alliance. He hates the whole thing. If he knew I’m a Rebellion soldier, fighting alongside princesses, it’d kill him. Both of them.”

“So you’re gonna lie to them forever?”

“Not forever! Just for the… foreseeable future. It’s worked so far.” He claps his hands together as if in prayer. “Please. Just… go with it. For me?”

Oh damn it, those puppy eyes. “Also they have the biggest collection of First Ones artifacts and writings in Etheria. This is the perfect place to look for answers about She-Ra, the Mara message, Serenia, everything. I bet they have stuff about the magicats too!”

That’s a low blow. He knows how desperate Catra is for even a scrap of information. “ _Fine_.”

He starts to open the doors, then stops. “Oh, also, I may have said in my letters that Glimmer is a physics major, Catra is an art major, nobody is a princess or has magical powers, and we all met freshmen year.” Glimmer is twitching by the end of it. “Okay?” He wraps his arms around both their shoulders , pushing the doors open with his foot. “Let’s go!”

* * *

Adora can handle this. Really, she can. She just needs to think like Shadow Weaver. She’s grown up with the lady, how hard can that be?

Hard, as it turns out. What was even out there for her beyond the Fright Zone? The Sorcerers’ Guild she had mentioned? No, that clearly didn’t work out if she ended up here. Hiding at any of the other bases won’t do any good. She doesn’t exactly _blend in_ with regular people…

Adora’s door slides open, jarring her out of her thoughts and halting her pacing. “Hey Adora!” Scorpia says cheerfully. “You okay? Your cadets mentioned they haven’t seen you… at all.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Adora answers without thinking, running her hands through her hair. “Do you mind running them through the training sims today? It’s not hard, just make sure they don’t kill each other.”

“I mean, I totally don’t mind, but… is something going on? You don’t usually blow things off like this.”

Everything is wrong, the world is ending, how can she not _see_ that? “Nope, it’s all good.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” That’s always been her weakness. “Look, Adora.” Scorpia’s voice drops a bit, turning soft. “You’ve already trusted me with a lot. And I haven’t let you down, right?” She hasn’t, Adora has to admit. “So trust me with this. Let me help.”

Adora sighs, bowing her head and closing her eyes. “I lost Shadow Weaver.”

Dead silence follows. “Oh,” Scorpia finally says. That’s clearly not what she’s expecting.

“I have to find her before Hordak learns the truth, or he’s gonna… I don’t even know what he’s going to do but I don’t want to find out.”

“Well, okay. Maybe Entrapta can—”

“No Entrapta. She’s bad with secrets, and spends too much time with Hordak.”

Scorpia nods. “Okay. We’ll find Shadow Weaver, just the two of us. And not a word leaves this room.”

Adora breathes a sigh of relief, feeling just a little better. “Yeah. Okay. Thanks Scorpia.”

* * *

“What’s Half Moon like? How did you convince your parents to let you attend an academy in another kingdom? No one’s seen magicats in centuries!”

Bow watches Catra nervously, noting each twitch of her fingers and eyes. She’s going to murder Lance. “I’m… not allowed to talk about it,” she finally says in a strained voice. “Traditions and all that. The… king and queen would be furious if they found out I was sharing secrets with humans.”

“Oh!” Lance holds his hands up. “Right, of course, I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble. I’ll just… get snacks!”

“We already have…” George’s voice drifts off as his husband disappears. “Ah, well.” He sips his tea. “I apologize, he’s very excitable.”

“It’s perfectly fine,” Catra says in that same, weird voice that Glimmer and Bow are starting to fear. “I know I’m a bit of a… rare breed.”

George chuckles. “It’s very nice to meet friends of Bow’s. He never brings anyone home.”

“I can’t possibly see why.”

Bow laughs nervously, hiding his grimace behind his drink. “Oh, have you seen the new pottery shards we got?!” Lance appears behind them very suddenly, gesturing to set of frames on the wal; they all jump. Catra hadn’t even heard him coming. “We’ll have to give you a tour, we have the largest collection of First One artifacts.”

The pottery is… something,” George says. “Bow’s older brother sent it.”

Glimmer chokes on her tea. Catra claps her on the back, then says, “Oh, Bow has a brother?”

“Youngest of thirteen!” Lance says proudly. “All historians, just like us!” George reaches out to take his hand. “And just like Bow when he graduates and takes over the library. Right, Bow?”

“Uh…”

“Do you have anything about magicats?”

Everyone looks at Catra, whose forced smile has become an expression of true curiosity. “The magicats have been a closed off society for a very long time,” George says slowly. “There isn’t much. Surely you know more about it than anything you can find here?”

“It’d be… interesting to see an outsider’s perspective of what their — _our_ culture is like.”

Neither man notices the slip, thankfully. “A true historian always wants to see multiple sides of a story!” Lance sounds _proud_. “Of course Bow would find people who share his zest for history. Wait until you see the newest piece of our collection — a shard from an ancient, defunct runestone.”

George sets his cup down on the table with a little more force than necessary. “If it wasn’t of historical value, that would be gone,” he says harshly. “No need to keep a reminder of the princesses and their war.”

Glimmer bristles slightly, fist clenching. “The _Horde_ started the war.” Catra’s ears go flat. Bow looks away. “The princesses are fighting to save Etheria.”

“You’re too young to remember the first failed Princess Alliance.” George shakes his head. “I’m not.” He stands, facing the fire. Catra can see Bow curling in on himself slightly out of the corner of her eye. “I enlisted. I fought for what I thought was right.”

“Dad, can we not—”

“When I came home, there was nothing left of my village but ash.” Catra’s mind flashes back to Thaymor, and inevitably, to Adora, standing on the edge of the ruined village thinking she had conquered some great rebel base. “I vowed that my family would never get mixed up in fighting or the princesses again.”

Glimmer’s unsurprisingly hurt by that. Bow is staring at the ground, arms crossed. Catra watches the dancing flames, and the shadows they cast across George’s face. Her eyes flick to Lance as he steps over to take George’s hand.

They hold each other’s gazes for a moment, and smile before Lance announces, “I know what will lighten the mood. Baby pictures! I’ve got some great ones of Bow’s first bubble bath.”

Bow bolts up. “You were going to give us a tour of the library!”

“No, no, I want to see those baby pictures,” Catra says with a wicked grin. Bow whirls to glare at her.

“I thought _you_ wanted to see an outsider’s perspective of the _magicats_?”

“Can’t we do both?”

“I’m sure we can find the baby pictures later,” George says, finally looking back at the group and smiling. “There’s plenty of time.”

Catra is definitely getting far too much joy out of this.

The men lead them to a nearby exhibit, Lance going on about each inane First Ones’ artifact. Catra wants to listen, and any other time she might have, but she’s a bit distracted right then. And maybe a little angry at Bow. He had a _choice_ , and the choice he made was to lie to his parents and fight in this stupid, endless war? He could have been _anything_. It’s not fair.

“And this is where Bow used to play pretend as a little boy…”

Catra stops to look at an old scroll framed on the wall. At first glance it’s mostly scribbles, but the longer she looks, the easier it becomes to pick out the masked figure among the writings…

“One of the few magicat artifacts we have,” George says, seeing what’s caught Catra’s attention. “I don’t suppose you could translate for us?”

Bow and Glimmer look cautiously at Catra’s, whose eyes are fixed on the scroll. It looks familiar… why does it look familiar?

“It’s um… It’s talking about an old legend.” And of course she can read the stupid writing, because apparently that’s just a _thing_. “About the magicats and the First Ones. The First Ones rescued them from…” She squints for a minute. “Krytis? They settled on Etheria, worked together to create a hero…” Blah blah blah, all the same stuff she already knows—

She freezes, ears twitching, eyes wide. “Catra?” Glimmer asks slowly, stepping closer. “You okay?”

“The First Ones’ betrayed the magicats.” The words are quiet, breathless. “They wanted to… to use their power to create a weapon, and the magicats didn’t want to be part of it. They fought, and in the end the magicats retreated…”

What the _hell_? This is… completely different from the story Light Hope had told. What _weapon_ did the First Ones want to create? Why wouldn’t the magicats help?

_History is written by the victors…_

Razz’ voice echoes in her head.

Glimmer’s hand on her arm shakes Catra out of her trance; she looks over to see the princess and Bow watching her with worried expressions. “Uh, sorry.” She shakes her head. “So, Runestone?”

“Right.” George sighs. “Princess nonsense.”

Catra kind of shares his feelings on it, if she’s honest. It’s a hunk of sparkly stone, and she’d rather see more of what they have on magicats. History is written by the victors. No one had seen magicats in centuries while the First Ones had continued on to do… whatever they did. Build a weapon? But where? What was it? Did it still exist?

_How did the First Ones betray the magicats?_

“Oh, the school project!” Bow says suddenly, snapping Catra out of her stupor. “We were, um… given this First Ones’ puzzle to solve, and we’re having trouble with the last word. Do you know anything about Serenia?”

Right, Serenia. The message. Mara. Catra needs to care more about that. She sighs, dragging her fingers through her hair — and completely missing the delighted looks of utter _joy_ that Bow’s dads exchange.

* * *

Of course they have approximately a billion scrolls that mentioned Serenia, who may or may not have been a real person. Catra resists the urge to pull her hair out, instead grabbing the first scroll and unrolling it, eyes scanning the First One writing.

“Well, this one’s mislabeled,” she mutters without thinking, tossing it aside. “It’s about _aquaducts_.”

Dead silence follows. And then Catra remembers that she’s reading a dead language.

 _Whoops_.

“You can read that?!” Lance and George were on her almost immediately, wide-eyed, eager.

“Uuuuuuh. Yeah. It uh. It comes up in Half Moon,” she lies half-heartedly. Neither of them seem to notice.

George thrust his arm out, reveal ing the tattoo on his arm. “What does this say?!”

“...You got a tattoo in another language and you didn’t even get someone to translate it first?” Catra asks in disbelief. Bow coughs loudly. Best behavior, right. “Uh, it says lunch.”

Lance burst out laughing. George looks like someone has set a book on fire in front of him. “It’s supposed to say love,” he mutters over his husband’s insistent teasing.

“I like this girl!” Lance declares, jumping forward to grab Catra’s arm. “Maybe you can help us settle one more debate.”

“Uuuuuh, I dunno,” Catra mutters as Lance drags her forward. “I should really help with the school project…” Lance stops, giving her a wide-eyed, simpering look. _Just like Bow_. “Um, okay, I guess… I can look real quick.”

“Great!” Lance wraps an arm around her shoulders, marching forward with George behind them. “Onward, Best Research Squad!”

It’s like someone cloned Bow, Catra thinks as they make their way to the stairs. Or, she supposes, Bow is Lance’s clone. That’s weird to think about.

“We found this at the same dig site where we found the rune shard,” Lance explains as they approach the giant metal ball. “Thing is, we can’t agree on _what_ it is. So, what’s it say?”

Catra looks up, seeing the engravings around the top of the ball. She’s seen them in the Crystal Castle, too. “It… says Eternia.”

The ball lights up, as does Lance. “It’s working!” he says excitedly. “It’s — It’s—”

They watch it unfold, legs spreading out, long body looming over them. “A monster,” George finishes in a hushed tone. Catra takes a step back, wide-eyed. Whoops.

“Run!”

She shoves Bow’s dads ahead of her as they take off, then whirls on her heel and jumps onto thing, claws slicing into the sleek metal. It roars, whipping its head and throwing her over the bannister, back to the first floor. She shrieks, barely managing to right herself and land on her feet.

“Catra!”

The creature burst through the bannister, and Catra dodges, diving for the vase the sword and mask were in. George and Lance rush to Bow and Glimmer, trying to shield them. “It’s fine, it’s fine.” Catra smashes the vase, ignoring Lance’s cry, and grabs the sword, settling the mask on her head. “Just an elemental, that’s fine! For the honor of Grayskull!”

She rears the sword back and jumps, cutting into the metal head. It shrieks, whipping around as she lands and tries to stomp on her. “Catra!” Glimmer teleports, reappearing on top of the elemental and blasting it with magic.

“Well, that secret’s blown,” Catra mutters as she changes the sword into a lasso and tries to tie the elemental up. Whatever. They could deal with it later.

The elemental bucks, and she yelps as it jerks the lasso forward, with her still holding on. She quickly changes the sword back as Glimmer grabs her, teleporting her to safety.

“This sucks.”

They hear George calling after Bow, and see the Elemental turn to the men as Bow runs in the other direction.

“Glimmer!”

“On it!”

She goes to get them to safety, and Catra sets back to trying to distract the elemental while Bow does whatever he’s doing. “They okay?” she asks as Glimmer reappears beside her.

“Bow might be in a little trouble.”

He isn’t the only one. Catra readies the sword as the elemental dives in to attack again, but is distracted by a smoke bomb arrow. Glimmer and Catra look over in surprise.

“Did he _have_ to rip his shirt for this?”

It’s the runestone shard, of course. Those things really do ruin lives. Bow grabs it with a grappling arrow and pulls it back, offering it up. The elemental gently takes it back and curls in on itself once more, deactivating. “Whoo!” Glimmer yells, teleporting to Bow and nudging him. “That’s my Bow!”

Catra rolls her eyes, transforming back as she approaches and elbowing Bow in the ribs. “Nice one, Arrow Boy.”

“Bow!”

Moment over. The trio turns to see Bow’s fathers staring at them. Lance looks shocked. George looks angry. “What is going on?” he demands. Bow looks between Catra and Glimmer, who nod in encouragement, and steps forward.

“I… I lied to you.”

Catra rests her arm on Glimmer’s shoulder as they watch the family talk; she can’t help but feel a flicker of annoyance at Bow again. Her only _parent_ had been Shadow Weaver, and that’s a very loose idea of parenting. Bow’s dads, though… they’re upset that he lied to them, of course. And they’re upset that he felt like he had to lie. They love him. It’s all very wholesome.

And Catra is jealous.

“Princesses.” George is staring at them. Catra bites down the urge to say she’s not a princess. “This is a family hug.” He holds a hand out. “You’re Bow’s family.”

“Oh, I’m not really a—”

Glimmer teleports Catra over to the men and shoves her into Lance’s arm as they all hug.

“Okay, that’s enough wholesome for one day,” Catra says after a minute, wiggling out of the hug (with no small amount of effort) and stepping back. “There’s some stuff we need to know—”

“What do you guys know about magicats?” Bow asks, cutting Catra off before she can ask about Serenia. George and Lance exchange looks.

“A little, but your friend—”

“I’m not really from Half Moon,” Catra says, sighing. “I mean, I probably am, but I was raised in the Fright Zone. I don’t know anything about the place. I don’t even know where it is.”

George’s and Lance’s expressions soften. “We don’t know much,” Lance admits. “Do you have any particular questions?”

“They… They worked with the First Ones, right? Everyone has a different version of how that ended — the magicats betrayed the First Ones, the First Ones betrayed the magicats, the magicats were peaceful, but somehow they were also evil…” Catra shrugs helplessly. “And I know history is written by the victors, and the magicats never got a chance to tell that story, but…”

“There… _is_ something,” Lance says slowly, tilting his head. “We don’t have it out on display, but we can show you.”

“We still need to know about Serenia, too,” Glimmer says quietly. She knows this is important to Catra, but Serenia could be important to the world.

“There _is_ two of us,” George says, resting a hand on Lance’s shoulder and smiling before gesturing for Catra to follow him. “You help with Serenia, I’ll help with the magicats?”

Lance smiles. “Sounds good.”

Catra looks at Bow and Glimmer, who give her a thumbs up, and she jogs to follow George into a back room.

“You said you were raised in the Fright Zone?” George asks as they walk. Catra nods uncertainly. “There were… rumors, years ago, about the Horde finding Half Moon. Were there others like you?”

“No.” As Shadow Weaver had been fond of reminding her. She was an anomaly. A freak. “Did the Horde really…?”

“I don’t know. The magicats have always been very—”

“Secretive.” Catra sighs. “I know.”

“ _But_.” George opens another door, gesturing for Catra to go first. “We do have something that might help with your questions.”

He flips on a light. The room is full of glass cases containing very _fragile_ looking artifacts. “We keep these back here to keep them safe. They’re too rare, or too old, or too fragile to be safe out in the main library.”

“Uh…” Catra chuckles weakly. “Yeah, sorry about all the stuff we destroyed.”

“You can take it up with Lance.” George’s mustache twitches as he tries not to smile. “That was his favorite vase.”

He leads her to the back of the room, where’s the lone case with several pieces of paper inside. “We found these years ago at an old site thought to be where the First Ones mainly worked and lived when they first landed on Etheria. Which means—”

“The magicats would’ve lived there too,” Catra breathed, eyes wide. George nods.

“We’ve never been able to translate these, though.”

Catra leans in as close as she could without touching the glass. The papers are frayed around the edges, worn, some parts completely illegible. She can pick out some sentences, though.

_Don’t trust them, I think they’re planning something._

_C’yra has been arguing with Adra._

_They’ve hidden the sword and want the mask. We must protect it._

_The Heart Project is dangerous. If they complete it, it will be the end of Etheria._

_There is no time to find the sword. C’yra says we leave tonight_.

“Catra! Dad!”

Catra jerks up as Bow’s voice echoes down the hall. He sounds excited. They hurry back out to the main floor, straight into a projection of—

“Stars?”

“Serenia is a constellation,” Bow says excitedly. “It only appeared over the Crimson Waste, though.”

“Great.” Catra looks down at the projection of the wasteland. “Next stop, Crimson Waste.”

“You can’t,” Lance interrupts anxiously. “The Crimson Waste is a no-man’s land. No one who goes in that far ever comes back.”

“He’s right,” George agrees. “You kids have to promise you’ll stay away from there.”

Catra looks at Bow and Glimmer, then back at the projection. _Stay away_.

Can they do that?

* * *

Adora steps nervously into Hordak’s lab, looking around. No Entrapta. Again. That doesn’t bode well for her.

“Lord Hordak,” she says as she approaches. He’s working at one of his computers. “What can I do for you?”

“Force Captain,” he replies placidly. “Tell me, how are things with your prisoner? Has she been taken care of?”

Oh. Adora blinks a few times, trying to find her voice. _You’re a terrible liar_. “Um… yup, she’s all set and sent off to Beast Island.” Even she can hear the lie in her voice. But Hordak is terrible with people. Maybe he won’t be able to tell the difference—

“ _I lost Shadow Weaver_.”

A shiver runs up Adora’s spine as her own voice echoes through the hall, and Hordak’s demon imp crawls down a column, mouth hanging open.

“ _I lost Shadow Weaver_.”

“I gave you an order,” Hordak growls, drawing her attention back to him. “And you _disobeyed_ me.”

“N-No, I—”

“And when I gave you a chance to tell the truth, you _lied_.” His hand is hovering over a lever. Adora’s breath catches. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I’ll… I’ll find her, just give me a chance—”

“I’ve given you _multiple_ chances!”

He pulls the lever. The pink energy field lights up around Adora, stealing the breath from her lungs faster this time. She wavers, choking. “I gave you an _order_! And not only did you disobey me, but when given the chance to come clean, you _lied_.”

Adora collapses to her knees, light headed, vision tunneling and shaking. She sees Hordak approaching, kneeling to look her in the eye. “This was a test,” he growls. His voice sounds far away now. “To test your loyalty to the Horde. And you _failed_.”

She wants to argue, to protest, but there’s no air, and everything is fading…

Everything except for those terrible, glowing red eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBC.... on December 5th.
> 
> I definitely need some time off to get ahead on the sequel (which I'm making good progress with!), and get a feel for where I'm going. Overall, I think it's going to be good. It'll cover seasons three and four, and I know people are kind of "skjghdkfjgh" about not enough changes, but trust me, things are CHANGING. It's going to be fun.
> 
> And because I'm excited and crave approval, here's a preview:
> 
> ***************  
> Someone is watching her.
> 
> Catra slowly wakes up without opening her eyes, sensing the other presence in the room with her. _Smelling it_. It’s familiar. Why does it smell so familiar? Why does she taste something bitter in the back of her throat? Something sharp and cold and electrifying and—
> 
> _Oh._
> 
> She’s up in the time it takes to blink, her fist slamming into Shadow Weaver’s mask with a satisfying _crack_. The sorceress has certainly seen better days, she thinks as she stands over the heap of red robes, before grabbing her and slamming her into the wall. Her mask is cracked, the red gem that had been in the middle of her forehead gone. Catra has a million questions. She can only vocalize one.
> 
> “What the _fuck_ do you want?”  
> ***************
> 
> Starting a season right - by punching Shadow Weaver. Who doesn't want to see that?
> 
> Anyway, I'll see y'all again on December 5th - or sooner if you follow me on Tumblr! I post writing updates and previews sometimes. And I like to talk. And get into fights defending Catra's honor. Anyway: catrasredemption.tumblr.com/
> 
> And finally... consider leaving a review, especially if you've been a silent reader? They really are super motivating, especially getting into long-term projects like this (and I have a third story planned for this series to cover season five, so we're going to be here awhile), and it's nice when people... ya know, engage.
> 
> Think about it this way - every time you review, Catra gets to punch Shadow Weaver in the face. Adora also gets to once every five reviews XD
> 
> Wow this got long. Ahem. Anyway. See you on the other side of November!

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, like I said... review maybeplz?
> 
> Also I'm on Tumblr if you want to catch me there! https://catrasredemption.tumblr.com


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